Heating

December natural gas is expected to open 2 cents higher Thursday morning at $3.81 as traders attempt to work highly variable near-term weather forecasts into their trading strategies and brace for weekly government storage figures. Overnight oil markets fell.

The expiring November natural gas futures contract is seen opening 2 cents lower Wednesday morning at $3.63 as traders square books and see the market at oversold conditions. Overnight oil markets rose.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said it is expanding its program for collecting weekly residential heating oil and propane price data from 24 to 38 states this winter.

November natural gas is expected to open unchanged at $3.81 as weather forecasts shift little and injections are seen likely continuing into November. Overnight oil markets continued their downward trek.

November natural gas is set to open unchanged Monday morning at $3.86 as traders can find no significant change in moderate near-term weather outlooks. Overnight oil markets plummeted once again.

Natural gas continues to be the primary source of fuel for heating at the national level, but excluding the nine states that comprise the Northeast Census region, gas is starting to lose ground to electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

October natural gas is expected to open a penny lower Wednesday morning at $3.97 as traders see no changes to near-term temperature outlooks and anticipate a plump addition to storage inventories. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. (ConEd), a unit of Consolidated Edison Inc., said Thursday that nearly 1,300 large buildings in New York City converted from oil to natural gas for heating purposes in 2013, a more than 50% increase over the preceding year.

February natural gas is set to open a penny lower Friday morning at $3.99 as traders balance a long heating season ahead with a stable supply deficit. Overnight oil markets rose.