-- Natural gas futures dipped early Thursday ahead of fresh storage data as long-term forecasts expect little heat to boost cooling demand.
Gas for May delivery was last seen down $0.04 to US$2.68 per million British thermal units.
Long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service see nearly all states with seasonal or cooler temperatures over its six to 14 day outlook, keeping demand for electricity to power air-conditioning low.
The Energy Information Administration will release its weekly survey of inventories of the fuel later on Thursday morning. Celsius Energy expects the agency to report a storage rise of 98-billion cubic, the largest build in stocks for the week in five years.