Investing.com - Natural gas futures eased off a six-week high on
Tuesday as investors priced in cooler-than-normal temperatures
settling in for much of the central and eastern portions of the
country.
Talk cold weather won't stick around long enough to spark a more
lasting need to heat up homes and businesses allowed the commodity
to ease off recent highs.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for
delivery in February traded at USD3.553 per million British thermal
units, down 0.36%.
The commodity hit a session low of USD3.507 and a high of USD3.640.
Weather services continued to forecast cold weather for much of the
U.S. though talk warmer temperatures will follow suit in early
February allowed natural gas prices to fall amid profit taking.
Natural gas futures are very sensitive to weather reports in the
U.S. winter.
The U.S. heating season running from November through March sees
peak demand for gas.
About half of U.S. households use gas for heating purposes,
according to Energy Department data.
The commodity continued to see support from official data pointing
to declining stockpiles.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly
report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended Jan.
11 fell by 148 billion cubic feet compared to market expectations
for a decline of 136 billion cubic feet, which took many market
participants by surprise.
Inventories fell by 89 billion cubic feet in the same week a year
earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a
decline of 144 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.168 trillion cubic feet
as of last week. Stocks were 147 billion cubic feet less than last
year at this time and 316 billion cubic feet above the five-year
average of 2.852 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 92 billion
cubic feet above the five-year average, following net withdrawals
of 86 billion cubic feet.
Stocks in the Producing Region were 156 billion cubic feet above
the five-year average of 957 billion cubic feet, after a net
withdrawal of 39 billion cubic feet.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery
in March were up 0.67% and trading at USD96.69 a barrel, while
heating oil for February delivery were up 0.69% and trading at
USD3.0737 per gallon.
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