Natural Gas falls as market prices in cold weather, bullish supply data

Natural gas futures edged lower on Friday after investors priced in chilly weather forecasts and bullish supply data, locked in gains and later sold for profits. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in April traded at USD3.474 per million British thermal units, down 0.33%. The commodity hit a session low of USD3.441 and a high of USD3.518. Cold and snowy weather continued to settle in for much of the heavily populated central and eastern portions of the U.S., which sent prices rising earlier. Investors also bought earlier in the day on bullish supply data released by the U.S. government on Thursday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report released earlier that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 22 fell by 171 billion cubic feet compared to expectations for a drop of 167 billion cubic feet. Inventories fell by 106 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a decline of 118 billion cubic feet. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.299 trillion cubic feet as of last week. Stocks were 307 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 308 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 1.921 trillion cubic feet for this time of year. The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 71 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, following net withdrawals of 109 billion cubic feet. Stocks in the Producing Region were 164 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 711 billion cubic feet after a net withdrawal of 50 billion cubic feet. By afternoon trading on Friday, however, investors sold for profits and focused on other markets, which allowed natural gas prices to cool a little. Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in April were down 1.78% and trading at USD90.41 a barrel, while heating oil for April delivery were down 0.97% and trading at USD2.9316 per gallon.

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Courtesy:INVESTING. COM