Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures fell sharply on Wednesday, hitting a one-month low as traders looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. gas inventories to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
Natural gas for delivery in August on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by as much as 2.6% to touch a session low of $2.657 per million British thermal units, a level not seen since June 24. It last stood at $2.664 by 13:40GMT, or 9:40AM ET, down 6.4 cents, or 2.35%.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's storage report slated for release on Thursday is expected to show a build in a range between 32 billion to 44 billion cubic feet for the week ending July 15.
That compares with an increase of 64 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 59 billion a year earlier and a five-year average of 61 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.243 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 15.6% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 18.1% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Unless intense summer heat boosts demand from power plants, stockpiles will test physical storage limits of 4.3 trillion cubic feet at the end of October.
Natural gas prices are down more than 12% since reaching a 13-month high on July 1 amid speculation that July heat won’t prevent stockpiles from reaching a record before the winter.