Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices rose for the second consecutive session on Monday, amid expectations cooler weather in the next ten days will result in increased demand for the heating fuel.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in March rose 1.9 cents, or 0.7%, to trade at $2.824 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours.
Futures were likely to find support at $2.656 per million British thermal units, the low from February 13, and resistance at $2.883, the high from February 12.
On Friday, natural gas prices rallied 9.1 cents, or 3.35%, to settle at $2.804 as forecasts for heavy snowfall New England over the weekend lured the bulls back to the market.
Nymex natural gas prices tacked on 14.5 cents, or 8.72%, last week, the first weekly gain in four weeks and just the second over the past 12 weeks.
Updated weather forecasting models pointed to frigid weather spanning from the Great Lakes-region to the Northeast through February 19.
Colder-than-normal weather will then linger in the mid-Atlantic states through the Ohio Valley from February 20 through the end of the month.
Bullish speculators are betting on the cold weather boosting winter demand for the heating fuel.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Despite recent gains, natural gas prices remain vulnerable in the near-term amid speculation supplies are more than ample to meet demand.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.268 trillion cubic feet as of last week, narrowing the deficit to the five-year average for this time of year to just 0.5%.
Last spring, supplies were 55% below the five-year average, indicating producers have almost completely made up for last winter’s unusually strong demand.
The Energy Information Administration's next storage report is slated for release on Thursday, February 19, with analysts expecting a withdrawal in the range of 96 to 105 billion cubic feet for the week ending February 13.
The five-year average change for the week is a decline of 180 billion cubic feet.
Futures are down almost 40% since mid-November as an unusually mild start to winter limited demand while production soared.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in April inched up 29 cents, or 0.55%, to trade at $53.97 a barrel, while heating oil for March delivery rallied 1.26% to trade at $1.996 per gallon.