-- Natural gas prices rose early Monday, rising off a two-year low despite cool long-term forecasts.
Gas for May delivery was last seen up $0.08 to US$2.60 per million British thermal units.
The rise comes even as long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service see most states east of the Rocky Mountains with cooler than seasonal temperatures over its six to 14 day outlook, keeping heating demand light.
Still, the price of the fuel is down 13% since the April 1 start of the cooling season as supply remains robust. In its weekly report released on Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported inventories ended the prior week at 2.06-trillion cubic feet, 7.1% above the five-year average.