Natural gas futures rallied for a third day on Tuesday, hovering below a one-week high as weather forecasts showed that a heat wave was moving towards the U.S. East coast, boosting cooling demand expectations for the fuel.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for August delivery traded at USD4.323 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, climbing 0.75%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.95% to trade at a daily high of USD4.331 per million British thermal units. Prices on Monday rose to a one-week high of USD4.334 per million British thermal units.
The U.S. National Weather Service said earlier that it expected warmer-than-normal temperatures across the U.S. Midwest and East coast from July 14 to July 17.
It added that excessive heat warnings and advisories were in effect from Texas eastward to the Mid-Atlantic states.
Meanwhile, weather service provider AccuWeather said that temperatures were expected to be above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) across large parts of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana throughout the week.
On Monday, the Commodity Weather Group said that most parts of the U.S. Great Plains and Western Midwest states would see extreme heat conditions through July 18, before shifting eastward until it reaches most of the East Coast from July 21 to July 25.
Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.
Later in the day, the U.S. Energy Information Administration was to release its Short-Term Energy Outlook, which will include forecasts for natural gas production and consumption.
Elsewhere, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in August climbed 0.38% to trade at USD94.52 a barrel, while heating oil for August delivery fell 0.75% to trade at USD3.062 per gallon during U.S. morning trade.
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By. ForexPros.com
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