U.S. natural gas futures fall for fourth straight day

NEW YORK, August 16, 2017 – U.S. natural gas futures continued lower on Wednesday, hitting a one-week low as investors looked ahead to weekly data from the U.S. on supplies in storage to gauge demand for the fuel.

U.S. natural gas for September delivery was at $2.891 per million British thermal units by 9:35AM ET (1335GMT), down 4.4 cents, or around 1.5%. It touched its lowest since August 10 at $2.889 earlier in the session.

Natural gas futures ended lower on Tuesday, notching their third straight session of declines, as near-term weather forecasts turned cooler.

Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on summer cooling demand.

Nearly 50% of all U.S. households use gas for cooling.

Market participants now looked ahead to weekly storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a build in a range between 41 and 51 billion cubic feet in the week ended August 11.

That compares with a gain of 28 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a build of 22 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 50 billion cubic feet.

Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.038 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 8.3% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 2% above the five-year average for this time of year.

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