09:27 AM EDT, 05/18/2022 (MT Newswires) -- Benchmark natural gas continued to push higher early on Wednesday as record temperatures in the US south boost cooling demand, cutting into producers' ability to refill winter storage as exports remain high.
Gas for June delivery was last seen up US$0.18 to US$8.49 per million British thermal units.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday said it expects record heat in the southern US, which will raise the call on gas-fired generators to power air conditioners.
"High temperatures in the 90s and 100s will be 20-30 degrees above average for many parts of north-central Texas, Oklahoma and the Central Plains through Thursday. These temperatures will either tie or break many existing records. There will be little respite for parts of north-central Texas and central Oklahoma in the evenings as lows are forecast to remain in the 70s over
the next couple of days," the agency said in its short-term forecast.
The US Energy Information Administration will release its weekly look at gas inventories on Thursday morning, last week pegging stocks at 1.96-trillion cubic feet, 16% below the five-year average.