US Natural Gas Prices Rise as Warm Weather Forecasts Boost Demand

Natural gas prices rose on Friday as forecasts indicated warm US weather in the final weeks of August, which would boost demand from utilities to meet increased air-conditioning needs.

According to Commodity Weather Group and Vaisala, above-normal temperatures are expected across the South and West for the remainder of August. This would increase natural gas usage for cooling purposes.

However, a bearish factor is the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) projection that US natural gas storage levels will swell to 3,985 billion cubic feet at the end of October, surpassing the highest level in the past decade and exceeding the five-year average by 5%.