Dow Jones - Natural Gas Prices Rise With Demand Expectations

DJ Natural Gas Prices Rise With Demand Expectations


   By Christian Berthelsen


  Natural gas prices rose Monday amid shifting outlooks for gas-fired heating and cooling demand in the coming weeks.

  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 but rising demand in some areas for power
generation to meet air conditioning needs.

  Midwestern and Northeastern temperatures are expected to fall below normal into the first week in April amid a late
season cold front, while a fast warm-up in the west is expected to drive cooling demand.

  "It's early-season air conditioning demand," said Gary Cunningham, manager of market research at brokerage Tradition
Energy.

  Still, above-normal temperatures along the eastern seaboard into mid-April are expected to tamp down any lingering
heating demand.

  Natural gas futures for April delivery rose 2.3% to settle at $1.8480 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange, regaining some of the ground they lost last week.

  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.

  "The lesser heating demand will make it more difficult for the market to reduce the amount of gas in storage,"
Houston research consultancy Gelber & Associates said in a note.


  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  March 28, 2016 15:17 ET (19:17 GMT)

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

032816 19:17 -- GMT