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Natural Gas Rises Ahead of Storage Report as Hot Weather Adds Cooling Demand

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Natural gas traded higher early on Thursday ahead of fresh storage data as hot weather in most of the United States keeps cooling demand high.

Gas for August delivery was last seen up $0.06, or 1.9%, to $2.98 per million British thermal units.

The rise comes as long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service see most states with hotter than seasonal temperatures over its six to 10 day outlook, raising cooling demand, though the big markets of the Northeast and Upper Midwest will be cooler than seasonal over the period.

The Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on stored gas supplies, Celsius Energy is expecting the agency to report stocks stored for winter use rose by 36-billion cubic feet last week, the second-largest build for the week in five years.

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