Investing.com - Natural gas futures plummeted on Wednesday as meteorologists pared back their intensity forecasts for a building winter storm due to trek across a good swath of the U.S.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in January traded at USD3.325 per million British thermal units, down 2.74%.
A building winter storm was set to cool temperatures across much of the central and eastern U.S., though forecasters later predicted the storm to have less an impact on the country than once thought, dampening expectations for businesses and households to ramp up heating on very wide scale.
About half of U.S. households use gas for heating purposes, according to Energy Department data.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Natural gas traders were also looking ahead to weekly data from the U.S. government on natural gas supplies on Thursday to gauge the level of demand for the heating fuel.
Early withdrawal estimates range from 53 billion cubic feet to 81 billion cubic feet.
Inventories fell by 100 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change for the week represented a decline of 144 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. gas supplies stood at 3.806 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 1% higher than last year at this time and 8% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in January were up 1.78% and trading at USD89.97 a barrel, while heating oil for January delivery were up 1.32% and trading at USD2.30362 per gallon.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in January traded at USD3.325 per million British thermal units, down 2.74%.
A building winter storm was set to cool temperatures across much of the central and eastern U.S., though forecasters later predicted the storm to have less an impact on the country than once thought, dampening expectations for businesses and households to ramp up heating on very wide scale.
About half of U.S. households use gas for heating purposes, according to Energy Department data.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Natural gas traders were also looking ahead to weekly data from the U.S. government on natural gas supplies on Thursday to gauge the level of demand for the heating fuel.
Early withdrawal estimates range from 53 billion cubic feet to 81 billion cubic feet.
Inventories fell by 100 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change for the week represented a decline of 144 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. gas supplies stood at 3.806 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 1% higher than last year at this time and 8% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in January were up 1.78% and trading at USD89.97 a barrel, while heating oil for January delivery were up 1.32% and trading at USD2.30362 per gallon.