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 November on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 2.5 cents, or 0.97%, to trade at $2.561 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours.
A day earlier, natural gas plunged 8.4 cents, or 3.15%, as demand for the fuel was likely to remain limited after meteorologists predicted mild fall weather in much of the U.S. in the weeks ahead.
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 100 billion cubic feet for the week ending September 25.
That compares with builds of 106 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 110 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change for the week is an increase of 94 billion cubic feet.
U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.440 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 15.7% higher than during the same week a year earlier and 4.5% 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 November dipped 16 cents, or 0.35%, to trade at $45.07 a barrel, while heating oil for November delivery eased up 0.02% to trade at $1.525 per gallon.