Investing.com – Natural gas futures started the week on the back foot on Monday, falling from the prior session’s six-month high as traders reacted to forecasts showing a return to mild weather after a cold spell in the eastern U.S.
U.S. declined 4.5 cents, or around 1.4%, to $3.168 per million British thermal units by 9:15AM ET (1410GMT). It reached its best level since May 30 at $3.224 in the last session.
Futures rose around 7.7% last week, its second-straight weekly advance, amid forecasts for more heating demand.
Natural gas prices typically rise ahead of the winter as colder weather sparks indoor-heating demand.
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 storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a draw in a range between 3 and 15 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended Nov 10.
That compares with a gain of 15 bcf in the preceding week, a build of 30 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 12 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.790 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That figure is 219 bcf, or around 5.5%, lower than levels at this time a year ago and 71 bcf, or roughly 1.8%, below the five-year average for this time of year.
Analysts estimated the amount of gas in storage would end the April-October injection season at 3.8 tcf due primarily to higher liquefied natural gas shipments abroad. That would fall short of the year-earlier record of 4.0 tcf and the five-year average of 3.9 tcf.
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Source: Investing.com
