Natural Gas Falls a Fifth Day in New York on Forecasts for Warmer Weather

Natural gas futures declined for a fifth day, heading for their longest losing streak in more than seven months, as warmer-than-normal weather reduces demand for the heating fuel.

Gas dropped as much as 1 percent as forecasters including MDA EarthSat Weather in Gaithersburg, Maryland, said temperatures will be above normal in the U.S. East through April 16. U.S. heating demand will be 29 percent lower than average from tomorrow through April 14, according to Weather Derivatives in Belton, Missouri.

“At this time of the year you are not going to have much heating demand,” said James Williams, an economist at WTRG Economics, an energy research firm in London, Arkansas. “People are also waiting for the inventory numbers.”

Natural gas for May delivery fell 2.2 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $4.124 per million British thermal units at 9:05 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. If gas ends lower, the five-day losing streak would be the longest since the period ended Aug. 27, 2010.

The Energy Department may say today that gas stockpiles slipped 52 billion cubic feet in the week ended April 1, according to the median of 24 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The five-year average for the week is an increase of 13 billion.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-07/natural-gas-falls-in-new-york-a-fifth-day-on-forecasts-for-warmer-weather.html)