BLBG: Natural Gas Advances as Prices Near Six-Year Lows Lure Buyers
Natural gas futures rose for a second day in New York as utilities and storage companies took advantage of prices near six-year lows.
A 39 percent drop in gas futures this year may be giving consumers and investors the chance to profit from storing gas now and selling it at higher prices next winter. Gas for delivery in January is more than $2 higher than June futures.
“Basically, the gas had approached some very, very low levels,” said Michael Rose, a director of trading at Angus Jackson Inc., a brokerage in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “The amount of money you can make is extremely limited on the down side, whereas on the upside it’s” much better.
Natural gas for June delivery rose 1.3 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $3.453 per British thermal units at 9:38 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures on April 27 touched $3.155 per million Btu, the lowest since Sept. 5, 2002.
“Fundamentally, you would have to think these levels of natural gas should be bought,” Rose said.
