From Reuters:
* Front month hits highest mark since early September 2011
* Forecasts for second week of April turn milder
* Nuclear outages slip below last year, five-year levels
* Coming Up: Baker Hughes rig data Thursday
By Joe Silha
NEW YORK, March 28 (Reuters) - Front-month U.S. natural gas
futures lost ground on Thursday, pressured by the milder turn in
extended weather forecasts despite an early rally attempt after
a government report showed a weekly inventory withdrawal well
above market expectations.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration report showed
total domestic gas inventories fell last week by 95 billion
cubic feet to 1.781 trillion cubic feet.
Most traders viewed the decline as supportive for prices,
noting stocks usually build slightly that week and the draw came
in well above the Reuters poll estimate of 87 bcf.
"The net withdrawal was in the upper end of the range of
expectations and also bullish relative to the five-year average
for the date," Citi Futures analyst Tim Evans said in a report.
"Natural gas remains supported by current heating demand,
but will become vulnerable to a downside test once the weather
moderates and heating demand fades away," he added.
By 12:05 p.m. EDT (1605 GMT), front-month gas futures
on the New York Mercantile Exchange were down 2.9 cents at
$4.039 per million British thermal units after climbing early to
a fresh 19-month high of $4.121....
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