NEO_99
Forumer storico
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Natural gas futures fall for a fourth consecutive session Tuesday as a warmer-than-normal weather outlook for the middle of February continued to pressure gas demand expectations.
Natural gas for March delivery recently traded 1.8 cents, or 0.4% lower, at $4.086 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The benchmark contract earlier Tuesday fell as low as $4.055/MMBtu, the lowest intraday price since late December.
Natural gas futures have tracked forecasts closely recently, as market participants try to gauge the impact of a shifting weather outlook on demand expectations for the heating and power-plant fuel.
Futures have ended lower for three consecutive sessions, and plunged by almost 5% Monday as forecasters agreed on a warmer weather pattern across the U.S. beginning this weekend.
Temperatures this week are expected to stay bitterly cold across much of the central and eastern U.S., with unusually severe cold seen across parts of Texas and Oklahoma, meteorologists with MDA EarthSat say.
The private forecaster sees warming thereafter, with warmer-than-normal temperatures seen across most major gas-heating markets Feb. 13-17.
The gas market had been supported by winter's cold during recent weeks, as frigid temperatures led power producers to lean heavily on gas stockpiles. A series of larger-than-normal weekly draws from U.S. storage brought inventory levels down from a record high in November to near average in the Energy Information Administration's latest report.
But if the mid-February warming signals the end of winter's peak demand period, analysts say gas prices could continue to lose ground.
"If this weather continues, or returns after a brief hiatus, it will become very clear that we are effectively done with the big withdrawals from storage," said Peter Beutel, of trading advisory firm Cameron Hanover, in a client note. "And, at the end of the day, that is what really is going to drive prices in this market."
Natural gas for March delivery recently traded 1.8 cents, or 0.4% lower, at $4.086 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The benchmark contract earlier Tuesday fell as low as $4.055/MMBtu, the lowest intraday price since late December.
Natural gas futures have tracked forecasts closely recently, as market participants try to gauge the impact of a shifting weather outlook on demand expectations for the heating and power-plant fuel.
Futures have ended lower for three consecutive sessions, and plunged by almost 5% Monday as forecasters agreed on a warmer weather pattern across the U.S. beginning this weekend.
Temperatures this week are expected to stay bitterly cold across much of the central and eastern U.S., with unusually severe cold seen across parts of Texas and Oklahoma, meteorologists with MDA EarthSat say.
The private forecaster sees warming thereafter, with warmer-than-normal temperatures seen across most major gas-heating markets Feb. 13-17.
The gas market had been supported by winter's cold during recent weeks, as frigid temperatures led power producers to lean heavily on gas stockpiles. A series of larger-than-normal weekly draws from U.S. storage brought inventory levels down from a record high in November to near average in the Energy Information Administration's latest report.
But if the mid-February warming signals the end of winter's peak demand period, analysts say gas prices could continue to lose ground.
"If this weather continues, or returns after a brief hiatus, it will become very clear that we are effectively done with the big withdrawals from storage," said Peter Beutel, of trading advisory firm Cameron Hanover, in a client note. "And, at the end of the day, that is what really is going to drive prices in this market."
