Natural gas futures climbed in New York, capping a second weekly gain, on forecasts for an arctic blast that would deplete inventories of the heating fuel, already at the lowest in a decade.Gas rose 1.2 percent after reaching a five-year high of $6.40 per million British thermal units in intraday trading yesterday. MDA Weather Services said temperatures may be lower than normal in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. from Feb. 26 through March 7. U.S. stockpiles tumbled 250 billion cubic feet to 1.443 trillion in the week ended Feb. 14, the least for that period since 2004, government data show.
Natural gas for March delivery gained 7.1 cents to settle at $6.135 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading volume was 13 percent above the 100-day average at 2:48 p.m. The futures advanced 18 percent this week. Gas has climbed 45 percent in 2014, the second-biggest gainer, after coffee, in the Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 commodities
Gas stockpiles were at a record deficit of 34 percent to the five-year average in the week ended Feb. 14, EIA data show.Much colder-than-normal winter sharply drew down gas inventories, pushing the expected end-of-March storage below 1-Tcf, which was last seen in 2003.
Natural gas for March delivery gained 7.1 cents to settle at $6.135 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading volume was 13 percent above the 100-day average at 2:48 p.m. The futures advanced 18 percent this week. Gas has climbed 45 percent in 2014, the second-biggest gainer, after coffee, in the Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 commodities
Gas stockpiles were at a record deficit of 34 percent to the five-year average in the week ended Feb. 14, EIA data show.Much colder-than-normal winter sharply drew down gas inventories, pushing the expected end-of-March storage below 1-Tcf, which was last seen in 2003.