-- Natural gas edged higher early Monday as warming long-term forecasts offer the prospect of higher cooling demand.
Gas for June delivery was last seen up $0.02 to US$2.80 per million British thermal units.
Long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service expect all states west of the Mississippi River to see warmer than seasonal temperatures over its eight to 14 day outlook, boosting the call on gas-fired generation to power air conditioning.
Still, supply remains robust. Last week's weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration showed stocks stood at 2.14-trillion cubic feet, 7.7% above the five-year average.