Natural gas futures were steady at Rs 164.50 per mmBtu on September 25 as participants increased their long positions. The commodity gained 5.8 percent on September 24 on the NYMEX.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US natural gas weekly inventories jumped 66 billion cubic feet (BCF) versus a forecast of 78 BCF for the week-ended September 18.
Natural gas prices have been supported by a pick-up in LNG exports with the easing of storm activity in the Atlantic.
In the futures market, natural gas for September delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 165 and a low of Rs 162.70 per mmBtu on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 131.30 and a high of Rs 203.
Deliveries of September futures slipped Rs 1.4, or 0.84 percent, to Rs 164.50 per mmBtu at 14:55 hours IST on a business turnover of 3,674 lots. The same for October gained Rs 1.5, or 0.7 percent, to Rs 214.70 per mmBtu on a business volume of 7,722 lots.
The value of September and October’s contracts traded so far is Rs 267.19 crore and Rs 599.47 crore, respectively.
"Natural gas may remain volatile amid positioning ahead of expiry. We expect selling pressure to emerge at higher levels amid no fresh positive triggers," said Kotak Securities.
At 09:31 (GMT), natural gas was trading down 0.98 percent at $2.22 per mmBtu in New York.
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