nat gas news

DJ U.S. GAS: Futures Surge Back into Positive Territory

--Natural-gas rebounds as volume jumps in midday trading
--Gas futures recently up 3.4c to $3.437
--Some see drop in storage surplus ahead

By Jerry A. DiColo

NEW YORK--Natural gas futures rebounded from early losses Tuesday in a swift midday reversal, as investors resumed bullish bets after a brief pullback in prices.
Natural gas for November delivery was recently up 3.4 cents, or 1%, at $3.437 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange after falling as low as $3.346/MMBtu earlier in the session.
The bounce came just before 12:30 p.m. EDT when a surge in trading volume lifted gas prices from $3.36/MMBtu to above $3.40/MMBtu in just a few minutes. Volume shot above 1,000 contracts per minute as prices rose after holding near 100 contracts for most of session's earlier trading.
"You're finding a scenario where people will buy the dips," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
Warmer-than-normal temperatures are expected across much of the Midwest and East Coast over the next two weeks, according to the reports of private forecasters, which initially sent prices lower Tuesday.
Warm weather this time of year typically keeps demand for natural gas low. Gas is used to heat more than half of U.S. homes, and many others use electric heat from gas-fired utilities. Moderate temperatures mean homes and businesses don't need to crank up their heaters.
But after a cool spell that kept temperatures below normal in recent days, some investors may be anticipating a lower-than-normal storage injection in Thursday's data, said Mr. Yawger.
U.S. storage inventories stand at 8.3% above the five-year average for this time of year, well below gas-storage levels that ended March roughly 60% above the five-year average for that time of year.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 09, 2012 13:44 ET (17:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 01 44 PM EDT 10-09-12


Pay note to the trend in nat gas supplies/stocks.......

Volatile weather due to climate change?  Hotter hots and colder colds...?

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