09:27 AM EDT, 09/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Natural gas prices rose early on Thursday ahead of fresh storage data as long-term forecasts warm.

Gas for October delivery was last seen up US$0.04 to US$2.19 per million British thermal units.

The rise comes ahead of weekly storage data from the Energy Information Administration, which is expected to show a lighter than average rise in inventories of the fuel stored for winter use.

"For today's EIA weekly storage report, survey averages suggest a build of +25-29 Bcf, with the most notable at +25 Bcf and likely where expectations are. It was near to hotter than normal over the eastern 2/3 of the US, while cool vs normal over the western 1/3 of the US. We expect a build of +24 Bcf, decently smaller than the 5-year average of +51 Bcf," NatGasWeather noted.

Long-term forecasts from the National Weather Service see nearly all states with hotter than seasonal temperatures over the eight to 14 day forecast, adding cooling demand.