Investing.com - Natural gas futures fell to a four-week low on Monday, as weather forecasts calling for a break in a heat wave pushed down prices.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in August fell to a session low of $4.493 per million British thermal units, the weakest level since May 27, before trimming losses to last trade at $4.497 during U.S. morning hours, down 1.21%, or 5.5 cents.
Natural gas futures ended Friday’s session down 1.11%, or 5.1 cents, to settle at $4.552. Futures were likely to find support at $4.364 per million British thermal units, the low from May 27 and resistance at $4.633, the high from June 20.
Updated weather-forecasting models called for a break in a heat wave across portions of the central U.S., which pressured prices lower. Still, the southern U.S. will remain warm, which prevented the commodity from falling too far.
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.
Meanwhile, market players continued to assess the outlook for U.S. supply levels. Utilities added 113 billion cubic feet of gas into storage last week, above forecasts for an increase of 110 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.719 trillion cubic feet as of last week, nearly 29.1% below their level this time last year and 33.1% below the five-year average.
Natural gas stockpiles have grown by more than 100 billion cubic feet for six consecutive weeks, a record streak since 1994.
Producers would need to add approximately 2.6 trillion cubic feet to storage by November 1 to meet typical winter demand, analysts said.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in August eased down 0.07%, or 7 cents, to trade at $106.76 a barrel, while heating oil for August delivery dipped 0.17% to trade at $3.053 per gallon.