Natural Gas gains as forecasts point to fresh blast of cold weather

                             Natural gas futures were up in afternoon trading on Wednesday after weather forecasts pointed to below-normal temperatures settling in for portions of the heavily populated Midwest region of the U.S.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in May traded at USD4.205 per million British thermal units, up 1.08%.

The commodity hit a session low of USD4.147 and a high of USD4.244.

Reports that the Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland, predicted colder-than-normal temperatures in the central U.S. through late April sent price rising earlier.

Market participants also kept an eye towards Thursday's official U.S. supply data.

Early injection estimates for this week’s storage data range from 16 billion cubic feet to 55 billion cubic feet. 

Inventories rose by 21 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week marks a rise of 39 billion cubic feet.

Typically this time of year, stockpiles begin to climb as milder spring temperatures curb demand for natural gas, though prices may rise by later spring, when homes and businesses crank up air conditioning units. 

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.673 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 32.5% lower than last year at this time and 3.8% below the five-year average for this time of year. 

Nymex gas prices have shot up almost 30% since mid-February thanks to below-normal temperatures gripping much of the eastern half of the U.S.

Natural gas futures are very sensitive to weather reports in the U.S. winter.

About half of U.S. households use gas for heating purposes, according to Energy Department data.

Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in June were down 2.14% and trading at USD87.12 a barrel, while heating oil futures for May delivery were down 2.24% at USD2.7436 per gallon.