09:24 AM EDT, 03/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Natural gas moved higher early on Tuesday on expectations an early spring cold snap will boost heating demand for the fuel.

Gas for April delivery was last seen up US$0.04 to US$1.74 per million British thermal units.

Long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service see only northeast states with above seasonal temperatures over the next six to 14 days, with most of the rest of the country expected to see cooler than seasonal weather, adding some heating demand amid swollen inventories ahead of the April 1 start of the injection season.

"After 7-weeks of much lighter than normal demand, cooler vs normal weather systems will track across the northern and central US through the end of March for closer to seasonal demand. The pattern would lean more bullish if not for the southern US being comfortable most days, as well as the pattern for the first week of April not looking quite cold enough," NatGasWeather noted.

The Energy Information Administration last week said inventories stood at 2.33-trillion cubic feet, 37.1% higher than the five-year average.