Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures spiked to the highest level since January 2015 on Monday, as the outlook for a colder winter boosted demand expectations for the heating fuel.
Natural gas for delivery in November on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose nearly 2% to a daily peak of $3.256 per million British thermal units, a level not seen since January 15, 2015.
It was last at $3.253 by 10:40AM ET (14:40GMT), up 6.0 cents, or 1.88%.
There will be no floor trading on the Nymex on Monday because of the Columbus Day holiday in the U.S. All electronic transactions will be booked with Tuesday's trades for settlement.
On Friday, the November natural gas contract surged 14.4 cents, or 4.72%, after updated weather forecasting models pointed to unseasonably cold temperatures across the northeastern and north-central U.S. through October 20.
It scored a gain of about 10% last week as forecasts for chilly temperatures across key consumption regions of the U.S. in the weeks ahead boosted demand expectations for the fuel.
Total U.S. natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.680 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 5.6% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Gas futures have made a dramatic recovery in recent months, rising nearly 50% since hitting a 20-year low of $1.611 in early March, as an unusually warm summer helped trim a supply surplus that was weighing on prices.