INV: Natural gas trades at lowest since February on weather outlook
Investing.com - Natural gas futures traded at the lowest level since February on Monday, as mild weather forecasts and concerns over ample supplies weighed on sentiment.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in September traded at USD3.339 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, down 0.25%.
Nymex gas prices fell to a session low of USD3.315 per million British thermal units earlier in the day, the weakest level since February 22.
The September contract settled down 1.2% at USD3.347 per million British thermal units on Friday.
Weather forecasting models continued to point to cooler temperatures across much of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest over the next six-to-ten-days, dampening summer cooling demand for the fuel.
Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use.
Meanwhile, U.S. supply levels also remained in focus following last weekâs bearish U.S. inventory data.
Natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 59 billion cubic feet last week, above market expectations for an increase of 56 billion cubic feet.
Inventories rose by 28 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a build of 47 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.845 trillion cubic feet as of last week, just 1% below the five-year average.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in September shed 0.35% to trade at USD106.56 a barrel, while heating oil for September delivery lost 0.85% to trade at USD3.046 per gallon.
