Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures declined 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 October on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 2.2 cents, or 0.83%, to trade at $2.688 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours.
A day earlier, natural gas jumped 5.5 cents, or 2.07%, as traders weighed shifting weather forecasts to assess the outlook for U.S. demand and supply levels.
Updated weather forecasting models showed that most parts of the southern U.S. will be engulfed by hot temperatures in the coming days.
However, cooler weather was expected across most parts of the Great Lakes, Northeast and Midwest-regions as the week progresses.
Summer heat has waned and cooler temperatures beckon with the approach of autumn. Natural gas accounts for about a quarter of U.S. electricity generation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's next storage report due on Thursday is expected to show a build of approximately 80 billion cubic feet for the week ending September 4.
That compares with builds of 86 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 90 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change for the week is an increase of 63 billion cubic feet.
U.S. natural gas supplies totaled 3.193 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 18.3% higher than during the same week a year earlier and 4.0% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Last spring, supplies were 55% below the five-year average, indicating producers have made up for all of last winter’s unusually strong demand.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in October lost 41 cents, or 0.9%, to trade at $45.52 a barrel, while heating oil for October delivery dropped 0.98% to trade at $1.578 per gallon.