BLBG: Natural Gas Drops as Mild U.S. Weather May Limit Demand, Boost Iventories
Natural gas futures fell for the first day in three on speculation that mild weather will boost surplus inventories of the fuel.
Gas futures were steady in New York as MDA Federal Inc.’s EarthSat Energy Weather forecast mostly normal temperatures for the continental U.S. from March 31 through April 4. Stockpiles of the fuel totaled 1.618 trillion cubic feet as of March 11, 1.4 percent above the five-year average.
“Once people get a load of what we have in storage, prices are going to retreat,” said Mike Rose, the director of energy trading at Angus Jackson Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “The fleeting moments of winter that we have left aren’t enough to burn much gas.”
Natural gas for April delivery fell 2 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $4.148 per million British thermal units at 9:02 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have dropped 5.9 percent this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Buurma in New York at cbuurma1@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
