Investing.com - Natural gas futures extended gains for the third straight session to hit a two-week high on Wednesday, as forecasts for warmer weather across key parts of the U.S. continued to boost near-term demand expectations for the fuel.
Traders also looked ahead to Thursday’s closely-watched U.S. supply data to gauge the strength of demand from U.S. households.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in July traded at USD3.963 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 1.5% on the day.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.7% to hit a session high of USD3.974 per million British thermal units, the strongest level since June 6.
The U.S. National Weather Service's six-to-ten-day outlook released Tuesday called for above-normal readings for much of the country.
The Commodity Weather Group also said hot weather will spread across the northern part of the country from June 23 to June 27.
Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer-than-normal temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.
Meanwhile, traders also focused on U.S. supply levels. Early injection estimates for this week’s storage data range from 83 billion cubic feet to 95 billion cubic feet, compared to a 63 billion cubic feet increase during the same week a year earlier.
The five-year average for the week is a build of 80 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood 2.347 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 2% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in August was little changed to trade at USD98.69 a barrel, while heating oil for July delivery rose 0.5% to trade at USD2.975 per gallon.
Traders also looked ahead to Thursday’s closely-watched U.S. supply data to gauge the strength of demand from U.S. households.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in July traded at USD3.963 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 1.5% on the day.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.7% to hit a session high of USD3.974 per million British thermal units, the strongest level since June 6.
The U.S. National Weather Service's six-to-ten-day outlook released Tuesday called for above-normal readings for much of the country.
The Commodity Weather Group also said hot weather will spread across the northern part of the country from June 23 to June 27.
Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer-than-normal temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.
Meanwhile, traders also focused on U.S. supply levels. Early injection estimates for this week’s storage data range from 83 billion cubic feet to 95 billion cubic feet, compared to a 63 billion cubic feet increase during the same week a year earlier.
The five-year average for the week is a build of 80 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood 2.347 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 2% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in August was little changed to trade at USD98.69 a barrel, while heating oil for July delivery rose 0.5% to trade at USD2.975 per gallon.