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MTECHTIPS:-Natural gas prices sink to 17-year low ahead of weekly storage report
U.S. natural gas futures plunged to a new 17-year low for the third straight session on Wednesday, as market participants looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. gas inventories to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel. Natural gas for delivery in April on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell to an intraday low of $1.657 per million British thermal units, a level not seen since 1999, before recovering slightly to trade at $1.691 by 14:40 GMT, or 9:40AM ET, down 5.1 cents, or 2.93%. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s storage report slated for release on Thursday is expected to show a withdrawal of just 49 billion cubic feet for the week ending February 26. That compares with draws of 117 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 198 billion cubic feet in the same week last year and a five-year average of around 138 billion. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.584 trillion cubic feet, 23.8% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 22.4% above the five-year average for this time of year. Some market experts worry there may be too much gas left in storage at the end of March when utilities traditionally start injecting the fuel back into storage for the next winter. Meanwhile, weather models kept pointing to higher-than-normal temperatures during the first ten days of March, dampening late-winter heating demand. The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
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