NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Natural gas futures fell Wednesday as traders awaited the release of the U.S. government's weekly storage report.
Natural gas for August delivery settled down 3.9 cents, or 0.9%, at $4.315 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Futures had made gains for three straight sessions, but settled in nearly the same position as they were last week before the Energy Information Administration's storage report, closing at $4.317/MMBtu last Wednesday.
Gains in the previous three sessions were pared as hot weather is expected to moderate late next week, and the hurricane season's first tropical storm, Arlene, wasn't threatening production in the Gulf of Mexico.
The EIA also released monthly production data midday showing strong March and April output.
Gross natural gas production in the lower 48 states rose by 1.1% in April to 69.05 billion cubic feet a day, the highest level recorded in at least six years.
Production levels have grown in recent years due to extraction of natural gas from shale formations, and plenty of supply puts pressure on prices.
Sustained cooling demand will still be needed to support natural gas prices, said Gene McGillian, analyst with Tradition Energy.
Prices have traded in a range of $4.10 and $4.70, McGillian said, and the price trends down to the middle of the range "the minute you start to get any kind of sign that cooling demand will slack off," he said.
Natural gas accounts for about a quarter of U.S. electricity generation, and use of the fuel usually fluctuates with air conditioning use during the summer.
The Midwest and East are seeing above-normal temperatures that are expected to carry over into next week before cooling, forecasters from Commodity Weather Group said. The private forecaster's 11- to 15-day outlook shows heat in the South and interior West.
The EIA's natural gas inventory report is scheduled to be released Thursday at 10:30 a.m. EDT.
In a Dow Jones Newswires survey analysts and traders said they expect the EIA to report that 81 billion cubic feet of gas was added to storage during the week ended June 24. That result would exceed last year's 63-bcf storage build as well as the five-year average injection of 77 bcf.
Injections that exceed expectations typically push prices lower while those below predictions often lift prices. Last week futures fell to a 30-day low as the EIA reported a larger-than-expected 98 bcf build.