BLBG: Natural Gas Falls From Four-Month High in New York Before Inventory Report
Natural gas futures fell from a four- month high before a government report that may show adequate supplies for the cold-weather months.
Gas dropped as the Energy Department today may say gas inventories fell by 85 billion cubic feet in the week ended Dec. 3, according to the median of 26 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Supplies in last week’s report were 10 percent above the five-year average. Gas rose yesterday on forecasts for below-normal temperatures in the eastern U.S.
“It’s the storage number that’s going to really swing the market today,” said Carl Neill, an energy consultant at Risk Management Inc. in Atlanta. “The market moved higher yesterday on expectations for cold weather and a large storage withdrawal, and prices are pulling back a bit today ahead of the data.”
Natural gas for January delivery declined 5.2 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $4.555 per million British thermal units at 9:08 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have dropped 18 percent this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Moming Zhou in New York at Mzhou29@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net