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MTECHTIPS;-U.S. natural gas builds on gains to reach 6-week high
MTECHTIPS-U.S. natural gas futures extended gains to a third session on Monday, reaching a six-week high as forecasts showing cooler weather on the way boosted the heating fuel. U.S. natural gas for May delivery rallied 3.6 cents, or around 1.2% to $3.189 per million British thermal units by 9:00 AM ET (13:00 GMT), after hitting $3.208, a level not seen since early February. A colder weather system will arrive over the Northeast later this week, according to forecasters at which should result in a modest increase in heating demand. About half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heating. Prices of the heating fuel are up around 15% so far this month after plunging by almost 30% in the first two months of the year. Meanwhile, market participants looked ahead to weekly storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a draw in a range between 43 and 54 billion cubic feet in the week ended March 24. That compares with a withdrawal of 150 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a decline of 25 billion a year earlier and a five-year average drop of 27 billion cubic feet. Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.092 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 16% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 12.7% above the five-year average for this time of year.
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