investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures started the week on the back foot on Monday, as traders began to react to the reality that higher summer demand for the commodity is coming to an end. Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning. But with autumn due to start on September 22, power burns to feed air conditioning demand have probably peaked for now, market analysts said. U.S. natural gas for October delivery was at $3.039 per million British thermal units by 8:25AM ET (1225GMT), down 3.1 cents, or around 1%. It rose about 6.2% last week as energy markets weighed what the impact of storm system Harvey will be on supply and demand.
Trade volumes were expected to remain light on Monday, with many investors in the U.S. away for the Labor Day holiday. Trading in natural gas ends at 1:00PM ET (1700GMT), while U.S. stock markets are closed for trading all day. Summer heat has waned and cooler temperatures beckon with the approach of autumn, when gas demand typically slackens and prices fall. Total natural gas in storage currently stands at 3.155 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, around 7.0% lower than levels at this time a year ago and less than 1.0% above the five-year average for this time of year. Early market expectations for this week's storage data due on Thursday is for a build in a range between 58 and 67 billion cubic feet in the week ended September 1. That compares with a gain of 30 billion cubic feet in the preceding week, a build of 36 billion a year earlier and a five-year average rise of 58 billion cubic feet.
