Natural gas rose for a third-straight session early Friday, rising to a near four-month high as warming long-term forecasts look to boost cooling demand for the fuel.
Gas for July delivery was last seen up $0.09 to US$3.38 per million British thermal units, the highest since early Feb.6.
The rise comes as long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service expect most states to have warmer than seasonal temperatures over its six to 14 day forecast, though the Southeast states will see seasonal temperatures over the period.
In its weekly survey, the Energy Information Administration on Thursday said stocks of the fuel rose by 92-billion cubic feet, within expectations, leaving inventories at 2.48-trillion cubic feet, 6.2% above the five-year average.