Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices fell sharply on Tuesday, even as weather forecasts showed that the U.S. east coast will be colder than normal in the coming week.
Natural gas for delivery in February on the New York Mercantile Exchange sank 6.8 cents, or 2.93%, to trade at $2.265 per million British thermal units as of 13:45GMT, or 8:45AM ET. A day earlier, natural gas prices dipped 0.3 cents, or 0.13%.
Natural gas prices typically rise during the winter as colder weather sparks heating demand, yet an unusually mild start to winter due to the El Niño weather phenomenon has limited the amount of heating days.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.756 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 14.2% higher than levels at this time a year ago and 12.0% above the five-year average for this time of year.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's next storage report slated for release on Thursday, January 7 is expected to show a withdrawal of approximately 100 billion cubic feet for the week ending January 1, as cold weather boosted demand last week.
That would be the biggest withdrawal since March 2015 and compares with draws of 116 billion cubic feet during the same week a year ago and a five-year average of 129 billion.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in February tacked on 10 cents, or 0.27%, to trade at $36.86 a barrel, while heating oil for February delivery jumped 1.82% to trade at $1.147 per gallon.