Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices bounced off the previous session's five-week low on Wednesday, as market participants 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 September on the New York Mercantile Exchange tacked on 1.3 cents, or 0.46%, to trade at $2.717 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours.
A day earlier, natural gas prices fell to $2.680, the weakest level since July 9, before closing at $2.704, down 2.4 cents, or 0.88%, as forecasts for cooler weather across key consumption regions of the U.S. in the week ahead dampened demand expectations for the fuel.
Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use. Natural gas accounts for about a quarter of U.S. electricity generation.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's next storage report due on Thursday is expected to show a build of approximately 70 billion cubic feet for the week ending August 14.
That compared with builds of 65 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 86 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change for the week is an increase of 54 billion cubic feet.
Natural gas storage stood at 2.977 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 2.8% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Last spring, supplies were 55% below the five-year average, indicating producers have made up for all of last winter’s unusually strong demand.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in October shed 40 cents, or 0.93%, to trade at $42.72 a barrel, while heating oil for September delivery dipped 0.34% to trade at $1.553 per gallon.