Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures rose to a four-week high on Wednesday, extending gains into a fourth session amid bullish weather forecasts that should provide a boost in demand for the fuel.
U.S. natural gas for August delivery was at $3.099 per million British thermal units by 9:05AM ET (1305GMT), up 3.4 cents, or around 1.1%. It rose to its highest since June 1 at $3.117 earlier.
Natural gas edged higher on Tuesday to notch its third wining session in a row, as updated weather forecasting models pointed to increased summer demand in the weeks ahead.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on summer heating demand.
Gas use typically hits a seasonal low with spring's mild temperatures, before warmer weather increases demand for gas-fired electricity generation to power air conditioning.
Nearly 50% of all U.S. households use gas for heating.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.770 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 10.4% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 7.4% above the five-year average for this time of year.
Market participants looked ahead to weekly storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a build in a range between 50 and 61 billion cubic feet in the week ended June 23.
That compares with a gain of 61 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, an increase of 37 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 72 billion cubic feet.