BS: Natural Gas Futures Climb on Outlook for Wider Supply Deficit
Natural gas futures advanced in New York for the fifth time in six days on speculation that a supply deficit will widen amid colder-than-normal weather.
Gas gained as much as 0.5 percent. Government data due April 25 may show a smaller-than-normal increase in inventories of the fuel for last week, according to C.H. Guernsey & Co. Supplies were 4.2 percent below the five-year average in the seven days ended April 12. Commodity Weather Group LLC predicted below-normal temperatures in the central U.S. through April 27.
“We drew on storage quite aggressively throughout the winter,” said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York. “The cold weather has seemed to drag on forever and that’s been supportive for the gas market.”
Natural gas for May delivery rose 1.5 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $4.282 per million Btu at 9:12 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have climbed 28 percent this year. Trading volume was 2.4 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day. The futures slid 3.2 percent yesterday, the biggest percentage drop since Feb. 14.
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