Investing.com - Natural gas prices remained in positive territory on Tuesday, buoyed by U.S. weather forecasts for both warm and cool temperatures that should drive demand for both air conditioning and heating, respectively.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in October were up 0.93% at $3.968 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading. The commodity hit a session low of $3.863, and a high of $3.977.
The October contract settled up 1.92% on Monday to end at $3.931 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $3.786 per million British thermal units, Friday's low, and resistance at $4.016, last Tuesday's high.
U.S. Great Lakes and northeastern states will see pockets of cooler air over the next week, which drive demand for heating, while warm temperatures over the southern U.S. will prompt households to crank up their air conditioning, forecasts that bolstered the commodity.
Still, forecasts for changing weather patterns prevented a strong rally, as a return of mild temperatures should cut into the need for both heating and air conditioning.
"As the week progresses, warmer temperatures will surge out of the southern U.S. and Plains and towards the Midwest. This will set up very comfortable temperatures over most U.S. regions this weekend, with only the Southwest and southern California being hot and needing above normal cooling," Natgasweather.com reported in its Sept.16-22 outlook.
"Heavy rains over the Southwest due to remnants from tropical system Odile will continue the next several days while also providing cloud cover and showers into Texas."
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report on Sept. 11 that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 92 billion cubic feet last week, compared to expectations for an increase of 82 billion cubic feet.
Inventories rose by 64 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a build of 60 billion cubic feet.
Injections of gas into storage have surpassed the five-year average for 21 consecutive weeks, alleviating concerns over tightening supplies.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.801 trillion cubic feet as of last week, narrowing the deficit to the five-year average to 14.2% from 15.4% a week earlier and down from a record 54.7% at the end of March.
The EIA's next storage report is slated for release on Thursday, with analysts expecting a build of 93 billion cubic feet for the week ending Sept. 12.
Inventories rose by 48 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a build of 71 billion cubic feet.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in November were up 1.81% at $93.66 a barrel, while heating oil for October delivery were up 0.84% at $2.7625 per gallon.