MTECHTIPS:-Natural gas futures push higher ahead of weekly storage report

MTECHTIPS:-Natural gas futures push higher ahead of weekly storage report

U.S. natural gas prices regained strength on Wednesday, rising for the first time in three sessions as market participants looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. gas inventories to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's next storage report slated for release on Thursday is expected to show a withdrawal of approximately 170 billion cubic feet for the week ending January 8, as cold weather boosted demand last week. That would be the biggest withdrawal since March 2015 and compares with draws of 113 billion cubic feet in the prior week and a five-year average of 178 billion. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.643 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 14.7% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 12.7% above the five-year average for this time of year. Natural gas for delivery in February on the New York Mercantile Exchange ticked up 2.0 cents, or 0.91%, to trade at $2.277 per million British thermal units by 13:40 GMT, or 8:40AM ET. A day earlier, natural gas plunged 13.9 cents, or 5.8%, after updated weather forecasting models for the end of January turned milder. Forecasts originally pointed to freezing temperatures in the U.S. east coast until the end of the month. Bearish speculators are betting on the warm weather reducing winter demand for the heating fuel. The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.

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