09:39 AM EDT, 10/29/2021 (MT Newswires) -- Benchmark natural gas fell early on Friday even as cold weather forecast for next week is likely to boost demand and the Energy Information Administration reported a day earlier a strong rise in inventories.
Gas for December delivery was last seen down US$0.18 to US$5.60 per million British thermal units.
The drop comes as the Energy Information Administration reported U.S. gas supplies rose by 87-billion cubic feet, near expectations, leaving inventories at 3.55-trillion cubic feet ahead the Nov.1 start of the heating season, 3.4% under the five-year average.
Forecasts are offering some support, with cold weather moving into the Northeast next week but then followed by mild temperatures.
"National demand will become strong next week as a chilly weather system sweeps across the Midwest and interior Northeast with low of teens to 30s. However, mild/warm high pressure is forecast to strengthen and expand over much of the eastern 2/3 of the US Nov 8-12 for lighter national demand," NatGasWeather noted.