DJ Natural Gas Steady on Hot-Weather Expectations
By Nicole Friedman
NEW YORK--Natural-gas prices eased slightly but held above $4 a million British thermal units Friday on expectations
that hotter weather would drive demand through the end of the month.
Natural gas for October delivery recently fell 0.5 cent, or 0.1%, to $4.039 a million British thermal units on the
New York Mercantile Exchange.
Forecasts are calling for a bout of late-summer heat in the southern and eastern U.S. heading into the first week of
September, which is expected to boost demand for gas-powered electricity to run air-conditioning units. Oklahoma and
Missouri could see temperatures in the high 90s, and areas in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast could hit the high 80s or
low 90s, said forecaster WSI Corp., based in Andover, Mass.
"The market seems keen to respond to the hot late-summer weather that has appeared," said Breanne Dougherty, analyst
at Societe Generale, in a note.
Prices rose to a six-week high Thursday after government storage data showed that stockpiles grew by 75 billion cubic
feet in the week ended Aug. 22, less than the 77 bcf that analysts had expected.
Inventories, which were depleted by record demand for the heating fuel last winter, are still 17% below the five-year
average for the week.
Natural gas for next-day delivery at the benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana recently traded at $4.01/mmBtu, according
to Intercontinental Exchange Inc., compared with Thursday's average of $4.0217/mmBtu.
Natural gas for next-day delivery at Transcontinental Zone 6 in New York traded between $2.45 and $2.68/mmBtu,
compared with $1.9518/mmBtu Thursday.
Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 29, 2014 09:17 ET (13:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
082914 13:17 -- GMT
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