Investing.com - Natural gas prices swung between small gains and losses near an eight-day low on Thursday, as market participants looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. gas inventories to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
Natural gas for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange tacked on 1.1 cents, or 0.51%, to trade at $2.274 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours. It earlier fell to $2.234, the lowest since November 2.
A day earlier, natural gas prices lost 5.7 cents, or 2.46%, as market players continued to weigh shifting weather forecasts to assess the outlook for U.S. demand and supply levels.
Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on early-winter heating demand.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's next storage report on Friday is expected to show a build of approximately 51 billion cubic feet for the week ending November 6.
That compared with builds of 52 billion cubic feet in the prior week, 40 billion cubic feet in the same week last year, while the five-year average change for the week is an increase of 30 billion cubic feet.
The report comes out one day later than usual due to Wednesday's Veterans Day's holiday in the U.S.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.929 trillion cubic feet, 3.9% above the five-year average for this time of year and almost 10% higher than levels at this time a year ago.
Last spring, supplies were 55% below the five-year average, indicating producers have more than made up for all of last winter’s unusually strong demand.
Stockpiles are set to reach a record by the end of this month. The EIA sees storage levels peaking at 3.956 trillion in November, which would top the November 2012 high of 3.929 trillion.
The North American natural-gas market has been mired in a supply glut for years amid robust output.
Industry research group Baker Hughes (N:BHI) said late Friday that the number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the U.S. increased by two last week to 199. Natural gas traders closely watch the rig count to gauge future supply growth.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in December shed 55 cents, or 1.28%, to trade at $42.38 a barrel, while heating oil for December delivery dipped 0.7% to trade at $1.437 per gallon.