Investing.com - Natural gas futures rose on Wednesday after updated weather-forecasting models called for high pressure to edge out a storm system and bring warmer temperatures to the eastern half of the U.S.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in July traded at $4.542 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, up 0.25%. The commodity hit a session high of $4.572 and a low of $4.519.
The July contract settled down 2.48% on Tuesday to end at $4.530 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $4.489 per million British thermal units, the low from May 30, and resistance at $4.743, Monday's high.
High pressure will build in behind a storm system tracking across the eastern U.S. and push out showers and bring in warmer temperatures, which should hike demand for air conditioning.
"This warm to hot pattern will last all of next week with much stronger cooling demand setting up across many regions," Natgasweather.com reported in its daily weather forecast.
"There will still be weak weather systems tracking across the U.S. with showers and thunderstorms, but it will not prevent temperatures from rising to near or above normal for much of the central and eastern U.S."
Meanwhile, market players continued to assess the outlook for U.S. supply levels. Utilities added 119 billion cubic feet of gas into storage last week, the largest weekly injection since 2009.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.499 trillion cubic feet as of last week, nearly 33% below their level this time last year and 37% below the five-year average.
Producers would need to add approximately 2.5 trillion cubic feet to storage by November 1 to meet typical winter demand, analysts have said.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in July were up 0.07% at $104.42 a barrel, while heating oil for July delivery were up 0.45% at $2.8970 per gallon.