Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures edged higher in choppy trade on Wednesday, rebounding from the prior day's losses as market players 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 October on the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 1.9 cents, or 0.67%, to trade at $2.846 per million British thermal units by 9:36AM ET (13:36GMT).
On Tuesday, futures sank 6.9 cents, or 2.38%, as a tropical depression moved away from the Gulf of Mexico, easing concerns over a disruption to supplies.
Market players looked ahead to weekly supply data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a build of approximately 35 billion cubic feet in the week ended August 26.
That compares with a gain of 11 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 96 billion a year earlier and a five-year average of 67 billion cubic feet.
Total gas in storage currently stands at 3.350 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 8.3% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 8.2% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Some market analysts said persistent heat late into the season could push power generators to continue burning gas.
Unless intense late-summer heat boosts demand from power plants, stockpiles could possibly test physical storage limits of 4.3 trillion cubic feet at the end of October.
Meanwhile, forecasts for warmer than normal temperatures across most parts of the continental U.S. in the days ahead provided support.
Updated weather forecasting models pointed to very warm late summer temperatures into mid-September, boosting demand expectations for the cooling fuel.
Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.