Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures rose sharply on Monday, on track for their second straight session of gains as traders monitored shifting weather forecasts to assess the outlook for spring demand and supply levels.
U.S. natural gas for July delivery jumped 5.1 cents, or around 1.5%, to $3.404 per million British thermal units by 9:15AM ET (13:15GMT).
Prices of the heating fuel rallied 7.3 cents on Friday after the latest U.S. weather model called for cooler temperatures over the next two weeks, which should increase demand during that time.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on spring heating demand.
Gas use typically hits a seasonal low with spring's mild temperatures, before warmer weather increases demand for gas-fired electricity generation to power air conditioning.
Nearly 50% of all U.S. households use gas for heating.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.369 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 13.6% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 10.8% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Market participants looked ahead to weekly storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a build in a range between 59 and 69 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 19.
That compares with a gain of 68 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, an increase of 71 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 90 billion cubic feet.