Natural Gas Futures Hold Near 3-Week Lows

Investing.com – Natural gas futures were little changed on Tuesday, holding near their lowest levels in almost three weeks, amid speculation the end of the winter heating season will bring warmer temperatures throughout the U.S. and cut into demand for the fuel.

Front-month dipped 0.1 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $2.659 per million British thermal units (btu) by 9:45AM ET (1345GMT). It reached its lowest since Feb. 27 at $2.640 in the last session.

The commodity lost 1.4% on Monday as a mixed late-winter outlook failed to spark any upward momentum.

Market experts warned that futures are likely to remain vulnerable in the near-term as the coldest part of the winter has effectively passed.

Spring usually sees the weakest demand for natural gas in the U.S, as the absence of extreme temperatures curbs demand for heating and air conditioning.

The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.

Meanwhile, market participants looked ahead to this week’s due on Thursday, which is expected to show a draw in a range between 86 and 96 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended March 16.

That compares with a decline of 93 bcf in the preceding week, a fall of 150 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average drop of 53 bcf.

Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 1.532 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

That figure is 718 bcf, or around 31.9%, lower than levels at this time a year ago, and 296 bcf, or roughly 16.1%, below the five-year average for this time of year.

Despite stocks being well below their seasonal averages for this time of year, record high production levels are expected to keep a lid on prices.

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