Natural gas futures dropped in New York, heading for a second weekly decline on forecasts of moderating temperatures that may reduce demand for the power- plant fuel. Gas futures slipped as much as 0.9 percent after Commodity Weather Group predicted normal or below-normal temperatures across most of the continental U.S. through May 22. Temperatures may be up to 8 degrees below normal in parts of the Midwest, according to the Bethesda, Maryland-based forecaster. “The weather really isn’t doing much to cooperate at this point,” said Peter Beutel, the president of Cameron Hanover Inc., an energy advisory company in New Canaan, Connecticut. “Traders are waiting for the magical leap when the southern U.S. takes over cooling demand from the heating demand in the north.” Natural gas for June delivery fell 2.8 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $4.166 per million British thermal units at 9:06 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have declined 1.6 percent this week. 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

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