Investing.com - Natural gas futures continued higher for the second day in a row on Wednesday, nearing their best level in almost two weeks, amid forecasts for a bump in late-winter heating demand.
Front-month U.S. natural gas futures tacked on 3.0 cents, or around 1.2%, to $2.647 per million British thermal units (btu) by 9:15AM ET (1415GMT). It rose to $2.662 in the last session, a level not seen since Feb. 9.
U.S. gas futures rallied 2.3% on Tuesday as updated weather forecasting models showed a return to colder weather over the eastern U.S. during the first week of March.
Despite this week's gains, market experts warned that futures are likely to remain vulnerable in the near-term as the coldest part of the winter has effectively passed.
Natural gas prices are down almost 30% since late January. They reached their weakest level since May 2016 last week amid speculation the end of the winter heating season will bring warmer temperatures throughout the U.S. and cut into demand for the fuel.
Spring usually sees the weakest demand for natural gas in the U.S, as the absence of extreme temperatures curbs demand for heating and air conditioning.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Meanwhile, market participants looked ahead to this week's storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a draw in a range between 112 and 128 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended Feb. 16.
That compares with a decline of 194 bcf in the preceding week, a fall of 89 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average drop of 145 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 1.884 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That figure is 577 bcf, or around 23.4%, lower than levels at this time a year ago and 433 bcf, or roughly 18.6%, below the five-year average for this time of year.