Natural gas futures hit 3-week high with weekly storage data eyed

Investing.com - Natural gas prices rallied sharply for the third consecutive session 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.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in July hit an intraday peak of $2.920 per million British thermal units, the most since May 22, before trading at $2.897 during U.S. morning hours, up 5.1 cents, or 1.84%.

Futures were likely to find support at $2.624 per million British thermal units, the low from June 8, and resistance at $3.017, the high from May 22.

A day earlier, natural gas prices soared 14.1 cents, or 5.21%, to end at $2.846 as forecasts for late this week and early next week turned warmer, boosting near-term demand expectations for the heating fuel.

Natural gas prices are up almost 12% this week after updated weather forecasting models pointed to warmer-than-normal temperatures across many regions through June 18. Forecasts originally called for mild summer weather during the period.

Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use.

Approximately 49% of U.S. households use natural gas for heating, according to the Energy Department.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's next storage report slated for release on Thursday, June 4 is expected to show a build of approximately 110 billion cubic feet for the week ending June 5.

Supplies rose by 109 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change is an increase of 89 billion cubic feet.

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.233 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 50.7% higher than during the same week a year earlier and 1.0% 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 July jumped $1.38, or 2.3%, to trade at $61.52 a barrel, while heating oil for July delivery rose 1.42% to trade at $1.945 per gallon.