Investing.com - Natural gas futures remained sharply higher on Thursday, after data showed that U.S. natural gas supplies fell broadly in line with market expectations last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in February traded at USD4.847 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 3.4%. Nymex gas prices traded at USD4.811 prior to the release of the supply data.
Nymex February gas futures rose by as much as 5.2% earlier in the day to hit a session high of USD4.945, the strongest level since June 9, 2011.
The February contract soared 5.82% on Wednesday to end at USD4.689. Natural gas futures were likely to find support at USD4.433 per million British thermal units, the low from January 22 and resistance at USD4.983, the high from June 9, 2011.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended January 17 fell by 107 billion cubic feet, compared to expectations for a decline of 110 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.423 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 598 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 369 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.792 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 253 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, following net withdrawals of 67 billion cubic feet.
Stocks in the Producing Region were 75 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 962 billion cubic feet after a net withdrawal of 25 billion cubic feet.
Meanwhile, market players continued to focus on weather forecasts to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
Updated weather forecasting models called for severe cold weather across the eastern U.S. during the next three-to-five days. The U.S. Northeast is a key gas-heating area. Bullish speculators are betting that colder weather will increase demand for the heating fuel.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption. Approximately 52% of U.S. households use natural gas for heating, according to the Energy Department.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in March rose 0.4% to trade at USD97.11 a barrel, while heating oil for February delivery added 0.8% to trade at USD3.0629 per gallon.