Dow Jones Natural Gas - Morning Commentary

DJ Natural Gas Gains on Cold Weather Outlook



  By Nicole Friedman


  NEW YORK--Natural-gas futures rose Monday on expectations that frigid temperatures in the eastern U.S. have boosted
demand for the heating fuel.

  March futures recently traded up 3.5 cents, or 1.2%, at $2.986 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose as high as $3.039/mmBtu in overnight trading.

  About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, and cold weather can cause price spikes
as utilities and other buyers compete for supplies. This winter, robust production and moderate temperatures have kept
prices subdued.

  However, with unusually cold weather settling in across the Midwest and East Coast in recent weeks, "the market might
be resetting the price range for natural gas based on a colder-than-anticipated finish to the season," said Teri
Viswanath, director of commodity strategy for natural gas at BNP Paribas SA, in a note.

  Weather forecasts released Monday showed a colder outlook for the next six to 10 days, and below-normal temperatures
are expected to persist in the next 11 to 15 days, said Gaithersburg, Md.-based forecaster MDA Weather Services.

  Traders are looking ahead to weekly inventory data, which is released every Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information
Administration, for indications of how elevated demand for natural gas ate away at stockpiles of the fuel.

  "The market is being forced to price in at least two huge storage withdrawals to be reported this Thursday and next,"
energy-advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates said in a note.

  As of Feb. 13, natural-gas inventories stood at 2.157 trillion cubic feet, 2.8% above the five-year average for the
week.

  Physical gas for next-day delivery at the Henry Hub in Louisiana last traded at $3.20/mmBtu, compared with Friday's
average of $2.9899.


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


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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  February 23, 2015 09:19 ET (14:19 GMT)

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022315 14:19 -- GMT
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