U.S. natural gas futures remain within sight of 5-month lows

NEW YORK, August 8, 2017 – U.S. natural gas futures struggled for direction in subdued trade on Tuesday, remaining within sight of their lowest level in more than five months.

U.S. natural gas for September delivery was at $2.800 per million British thermal units by 9:05AM ET (1305GMT), down 0.1 cents, or less than 0.1%.

Natural gas futures ended higher on Monday, snapping a three-day losing streak.

Prices fell to their lowest since March 2 at $2.753 at the end of last week amid bearish weather forecasts that should limit demand for the fuel.

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.

Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.010 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 8.5% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 2.9% above the five-year average for this time of year.

Early market expectations for this week’s storage data due on Thursday is for a build in a range between 32 and 42 billion cubic feet in the week ended August 4.

That compares with a gain of 20 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a build of 29 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 54 billion cubic feet.

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