Natural gas futures soar 4% as Artic chill sweeps across U.S.

Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices soared on Wednesday, as blistering cold air blasted across most of the U.S., fuelling expectations for increased heating demand.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in December rose by as much as 4.5% to touch a daily peak of $4.444 per million British thermal units, the most since November 10.

Nymex gas last traded at $4.414 during U.S. morning hours, up 17.0 cents, or 4.01%.

A day earlier, natural gas prices lost 9.7 cents, or 2.23%, to settle at $4.244 per million British thermal units.

Futures were likely to find support at $4.113 per million British thermal units, the low from November 17, and resistance at $4.544, the high from November 10.

Updated weather forecasting models showed that temperatures were expected to be below normal across most of the contiguous U.S. through November 27.

The frigid weather outlook sent natural gas prices soaring on expectations for households and business to crank up their heating and send thermal power plants to burn more of the commodity to meet demand.

The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.

Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration's weekly storage report slated for release on Thursday is expected to show a decline of 18 billion cubic feet for the week ending November 14.

The five-year average change for the week is a decrease of 10 billion cubic feet.

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.611 trillion cubic feet as of last week, narrowing the deficit to the five-year average to 6.2% from a record 54.7% at the end of March.

Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in January tacked on 27 cents, or 0.36%, to trade at $74.91 a barrel, while heating oil for December delivery picked up 0.93% to trade at $2.403 per gallon.