Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures fell to the lowest level in almost two weeks on Wednesday, 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 November on the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped to a daily low of $2.956 per million British thermal units, a level not seen since September 19.
It was last at $2.964 by 9:40AM ET (13:40GMT), down 8.6 cents, or 2.82%, after dipping 0.5 cents, or 0.16%, on Tuesday.
Market players looked ahead to weekly supply data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a build of approximately 56 billion cubic feet in the week ended September 23.
That compares with a gain of 52 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, 96 billion a year earlier and a five-year average build of 97 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.551 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 4.0% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 7.5% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Gas futures have made a dramatic recovery in recent months, rising nearly 50% since hitting a 20-year low of $1.611 in early March, as an unusually warm summer helped trim a supply surplus that was weighing on prices.
Despite the recent rally, gains are likely to remain limited as traders react to the reality that higher summer demand for the commodity is coming to an end.
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.
But with autumn having started on September 22, power burns to feed air conditioning demand have probably peaked for now, market analysts said.