Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures held near the prior session's five-month low on Wednesday, as investors looked ahead to weekly data from the U.S. on supplies in storage to gauge demand for the fuel.
U.S. natural gas for September delivery was at $2.813 per million British thermal units by 9:05AM ET (1305GMT), down 0.6 cents, or around 0.2%.
It fell to its lowest since March 2 $2.761 on Monday as updated weather forecasts predicted that below normal temperatures across the U.S. could persist through the first half of August.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on summer cooling demand.
Nearly 50% of all U.S. households use gas for cooling.
Market participants now looked ahead to weekly storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a build in a range between 17 and 27 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 28.
That compares with a gain of 17 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a withdrawal of 6 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 44 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 2.990 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 9.2% lower than levels at this time a year ago but 3.7% above the five-year average for this time of year.