Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices edged lower in lackluster trade on Wednesday, as market participants looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. gas inventories to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel. Natural gas for delivery in August on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 1.1 cents, or 0.36%, to trade at $2.872 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours. Futures were likely to find support at $2.785, the low from July 20, and resistance at $2.930, the high from July 16. On Tuesday, natural gas jumped 5.9 cents, or 2.09%, to close at $2.882 as market players continued to assess the outlook for U.S. demand and supply levels. Updated weather forecasting models continued to call for higher-than-normal temperatures across most parts of the U.S. in the first half of the week, before a shift to cooler weather pushes readings to near normal across much of Northeast and Midwest late in the week. Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use. Natural gas accounts for about a quarter of U.S. electricity generation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's storage report due on Thursday is expected to show a build of approximately 71 billion cubic feet for the week ending July 17, compared to an increase of 99 billion cubic feet in the preceding week. Supplies rose by 92 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change is an increase of 53 billion cubic feet. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.767 trillion cubic feet, 30.9% higher than during the same week a year earlier and 2.7% above the five-year average for this time of year. Last spring, supplies were 55% below the five-year average, indicating producers have made up for all of last winter’s unusually strong demand. Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in September declined 70 cents, or 1.37%, to trade at $50.16 a barrel, while heating oil for August delivery dipped 0.24% to trade at $1.674 per gallon.

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