Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures edged higher for the second day in a row 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 November delivery was at $3.039 per million British thermal units by 8:55AM ET (1255GMT), up 3.8 cents, or around 1.3%.
Futures gained about 0.4% on Tuesday as market players continued to monitor weather forecasts to gauge near-term demand prospects.
Warm high pressure will dominate the Great Lakes and east-central U.S. through the end of the week with highs of 80s and 90s, followed by cooling next week as a fresh weather system arrives with showers and thunderstorms.
Market participants looked ahead to weekly storage data due on Thursday, which is expected to show a build in a range between 61 and 71 billion cubic feet in the week ended September 22.
That compares with a gain of 97 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a build of 49 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 84 billion cubic feet.
Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.408 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, around 3.8% lower than levels at this time a year ago and in line with the five-year average for this time of year.