Dow Jones - Natural Gas Jumps On Weather

DJ Natural Gas Jumps on Weather


   By Timothy Puko


  Natural gas prices are rising as weather forecasts and bargain buyers continue to support prices.

  Natural gas futures for October delivery recently rose 4.4 cents, or 1.5%, to $2.708 a million British thermal units
on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading has been limited to a 6-cent range for the session, matching the docile
pattern that has plagued gas futures all summer and kept prices in 33-cent range for nearly three months.

  Summer prices are closely tied to heat because consumption usually rises as people turn on their air-conditioning
units and ramp up demand for gas-powered electricity. Friday's forecasts are continuing to show far-above average
temperatures settling in next week, but also a patch of above-average temperatures that wasn't expected this weekend
for major cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington.

  Gas prices have fallen within about 20 cents of three-year lows in recent days, and, at that price, buyers will jump
in hoping to pick a bottom ahead of an uptick in heat-related demand, Dominick Chirichella, analyst at the Energy
Management Institute, said in a note. Others will see a hurricane headed for the country and simply decide to close out
bearish, or short, bets on the outside chance the hurricane heads toward the Gulf of Mexico and threatens production
and processing facilities in the region, said John Woods, president of JJ Woods Associates and a Nymex trader.

  "All eyes are on one storm and the weather pattern," Mr. Woods said. "Nobody wants to go short into this weekend with
the storm brewing."

  Physical gas for next-day delivery at the Henry Hub in Louisiana last traded at $2.67/mmBtu, compared with Thursday's
range of $2.66-$2.69. Cash prices at the Transco Z6 hub in New York last traded at $2.00/mmBtu, compared with
Thursday's range of $2.15-$2.50.


  Write to Timothy Puko at tim.puko@wsj.com


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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  August 28, 2015 10:49 ET (14:49 GMT)

  Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

082815 14:49 -- GMT
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