Dow Jones - Morning Natural Gas Commentary

DJ Natural Gas Prices Gain on Expected Cold Weather


   By Nicole Friedman


  NEW YORK--Natural gas prices rose for a third straight session Thursday on expectations of cold weather this weekend,
but gains are muted as weekly U.S. inventory data are expected to show a larger-than-average build in supplies.

  Natural gas for December delivery rose 2.3 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.811 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange.

  Prices retreated this month as forecasts called for above-normal temperatures, which would limit demand for natural
gas as a heating fuel.

  Futures rebounded slightly in recent days on calls for a bout of low temperatures this weekend. After an "impressive
but fast cold push" this week, the weather is expected to be moderate in the next two weeks, according to Bethesda,
Md.-based forecaster Commodity Weather Group LLC.

  A frigid winter in late 2013 and early 2014 fueled record natural-gas demand and depleted stockpiles, but those have
rebuilt more rapidly than expected this year as production has boomed.

  As of Oct. 17, inventories stood at 3.393 trillion cubic feet, 9.1% below the five-year average level for the week,
according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

  The EIA is set to release its storage data for the week ended Oct. 24 at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

  Analysts and traders expect the report to show that producers put 85 billion cubic feet of gas into storage last
week, more than the five-year average supply build for the week.

  Natural gas for next-day delivery at the benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana recently traded at $3.66/mmBtu, according
to Intercontinental Exchange Inc., versus Wednesday's average of $3.5619/mmBtu.

  Natural gas for next-day delivery at Transcontinental Zone 6 in New York traded between $2.60 and $2.90/mmBtu,
compared with $2.6586/mmBtu Wednesday.


  Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com


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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  October 30, 2014 09:05 ET (13:05 GMT)

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