26.02.201406:39:07UTC+00Natural gas set for largest 3-Day loss since 2007

Natural gas futures plummeted for the third day in New York, prolonging the steepest decrement in more than six years on speculation the warmer US weather will cut down demand for heating fuel.

The contract for March delivery, to expire today, fell 5.2% to $4.832 per million British thermal units in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $4.950 per mmBtu at 1:42 p.m. in Singapore. Prices went down 19% so far this week, and a settlement at present levels would signify the largest three-day loss since August 2007. The more active April contract slipped 0.9% to $4.649.

The volume for all futures traded was around 19% below the 100-day average. Gas plunged 6.4% yesterday to $5.096 per mmBtu, the lowest since February 12, after forecasters including MDA Weather Services said snappy weather in the Midwest and East will loosen starting on March 7. Futures ascended to a five-year peak this month as below-normal temperatures amplified demand, driving US stockpiles to 10-year seasonal lows.

A storm surging through the eastern US may bring as much as 3 inches (or 7.6 centimeters) of snow to Washington and smaller amounts to New York and Boston overnight. The snow will get through in Washington from 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. and continue to fall until around noon, local time, based on the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia.

Waves of polar air that boosted demand for heating fuels trimmed stockpiles to 1.443 trillion cubic feet on February 14, the lowest since 2004, U.S. Energy Information Administration data reflected. Storage levels were 34% below the five-year average for the week, a record shortage in figures way back 2005. Supplies also dived to a record deficit to year-earlier levels of 40%.