Forexpros – Natural gas futures were up for a second day on Monday, climbing to a three-day high as warmer-than-normal weather across most parts of the U.S. next week boosted demand expectations for the fuel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for August delivery traded at USD4.296 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, surging 1.8%. It earlier rose as much as 2.3% to trade at USD4.335 per million British thermal units, the highest price since July 6. The Commodity Weather Group said earlier that most parts of the U.S. Great Plans and Western Midwest states could see extreme heat from July 14 to July 17. The weather group added that the heat wave was expected to shift eastward during the next two weeks until it reaches most of the East Coast from July 21 to July 25. According to the U.S. National Weather Service, temperatures were expected to be above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) across large parts of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana in the upcoming week. Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning. Meanwhile, Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a report published Friday that it expected natural gas prices to average USD4.25 per million British thermal units in the near-term, “as new shale gas continues to flow into the market.” The lender added that it projected prices to reach USD6.00 per million British thermal units by 2015 as more and more U.S. utility providers switch from coal to natural gas. Elsewhere, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in August tumbled 2% to trade at USD94.58 a barrel, while heating oil for August delivery fell 1.33% to trade at USD3.052 per gallon during U.S. morning trade.

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