Dow Jones - Natural Gas Edges Higher Amid Shifting Forecasts

DJ Natural Gas Edges Higher Amid Shifting Forecasts


   By Christian Berthelsen


  Natural gas prices edged higher Monday amid shifting outlooks for temperatures in the coming weeks, with Northeastern
temperatures getting colder in early April followed by an eastern-seaboard warm-up later in the month.

  Natural gas futures for April delivery were up 0.4% at $1.8140 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange, regaining some of the ground they had lost last week.

  With temperatures wavering in the so-called shoulder season between winter and spring, the market is gyrating along
with them as traders assess fading demand levels for gas-fired heating.

  A weak winter and surging production have resulted in fast-growing stockpiles of natural gas, with the U.S. Energy
Department reporting a 15-billion-cubic-foot increase in inventories last week, more than 50% above average for this
time of year. The increase came three weeks earlier than normal for this time of year, when inventories are still being
drawn down to heat homes amid fading winter temperatures.

  "It is now spring and cooling trends will not result in a winter-like surge in natural gas heating-related demand,"
analyst Dominick Chirichella of the Energy Management Institute said in a note.


  Write to Christian Berthelsen at christian.berthelsen@wsj.com


  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  March 28, 2016 10:38 ET (14:38 GMT)

  Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

032816 14:38 -- GMT
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