The NYMEX October natural gas futures contract was up 9.1 cents to $3.015/MMBtu at 12:34 p.m. EDT (1634 GMT) Wednesday as traders covered short positions ahead of the contract's expiration at the session's end.
Gelber & Associates analyst Aaron Calder said cooler weather heading into the US Northeast over the next two weeks is giving the contract a lift ahead of expiration.
"The market has indicated that it has started to look toward winter as we begin to put the shoulder season behind us," Calder said in a note to clients.
But other sources said the market is not yet out of the fall shoulder season and storage injections are likely to pick up over the coming weeks because of weaker demand.
The contract has traded so far Wednesday between $2.927/MMBtu and $3.016/MMBtu.
