Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures edged higher on Monday, hitting their strongest level in almost a week as near-term weather forecasts turned warmer.
Hot high pressure will dominate most of the U.S. in the week ahead, with highs of upper 80s to 100s to drive considerably stronger than normal national demand.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on late-summer cooling demand.
Nearly 50% of all U.S. households use gas for cooling.
U.S. natural gas for September delivery was at $2.931 per million British thermal units by 8:15AM ET (1215GMT), up 3.8 cents, or around 1.3%. It touched its highest since August 15 at $2.943 earlier in the session.
Prices saw a loss of nearly 3% last week, amid bearish weather forecasts.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.082 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 7.6% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 1.8% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Early market expectations for this week's storage data due on Thursday is for a build in a range between 37 and 47 billion cubic feet in the week ended August 18.
That compares with a gain of 53 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a build of 11 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 53 billion cubic feet.