Investing.com - Natural gas futures fell for the second-straight session Tuesday to reach a one-week low amid forecasts for less heating demand over the next two weeks.
U.S. natural gas futures slumped 6.0 cents, or around 2%, to hit $3.106 per million British thermal units by 8:10AM ET (1310GMT), after touching its worst level since Nov. 7 at $3.089 earlier.
Futures lost 4.6 cents, or 1.4%, on Monday, as traders reacted to forecasts showing a return to mild weather across most parts of the U.S. following a cold spell in the eastern part of the country.
The central and southern U.S. will be mild to warm with highs reaching the comfortable upper 60s to 80s through Nov. 23.
Meanwhile, market participants looked ahead to this week's storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a draw in a range between 3 and 15 billion cubic feet (bcf) in the week ended Nov 10.
That compares with a gain of 15 bcf in the preceding week, a build of 30 bcf a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 12 bcf.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.790 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That figure is 219 bcf, or around 5.5%, lower than levels at this time a year ago and 71 bcf, or roughly 1.8%, below the five-year average for this time of year.
Analysts estimated the amount of gas in storage would end the April-October injection season at 3.8 tcf due primarily to higher liquefied natural gas shipments abroad. That would fall short of the year-earlier record of 4.0 tcf and the five-year average of 3.9 tcf.