Cold weather may lift natural gas futures

New York: Natural gas futures may gain in the coming days as colder weather sparks demand, a Bloomberg News survey showed.

Nine of 15 analysts in the survey, or 60 per cent, said US prices would increase through January 2. Three, or 20 per cent, said gas would fall. Three others predicted little change. Last week, 45 per cent of participants expected gas futures to rise.

"Upcoming storage reports look like they will continue to feature above-average rates of withdrawal," said Tim Evans, an energy analyst with Citi Futures Perspective in New York.

Stockpiles fell 147 billion cubic feet in the week ended December 19, more than the normal withdrawal for that time of year, an Energy Department report last week showed. Inventories totalled 3.02 trillion cubic feet, 3.4 per cent above the five-year average.