Natural gas futures up 3.72% to Rs 164.50 per mmBtu on pickup in demand

Natural gas futures climbed to Rs 164.50 per mmBtu on August 13 as participants increased their long position as seen by the open interest. Natural gas price has declined 0.9 percent on August 12 on Nymex.

The price of natural gas is seeing choppiness ahead of the weekly EIA inventory report.

The natural gas prices were supported by a pickup in cooling demand as the forecast of warm weather in some parts of the US and jump in US gas exports.

In the futures market, natural gas for August delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 166.30 and an intraday low of Rs 161.50 per mmBtu on MCX. So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 121.40 and a high of Rs 171.60.

Natural gas delivery for August gained Rs 5.90, or 3.72 percent, to Rs 164.50 per mmBtu at 14:55 hours IST with a business turnover of 8,134 lots.

Natural gas delivery for September jumped Rs 5.80, or 3.42 percent at Rs 175.30 per mmBtu with a business volume of 1,236 lots.

The value of August and September contracts traded so far is Rs 562.78 crore and Rs 21.98 crore, respectively.

MCX Natural gas price is expected to trade positively with support at Rs 159 level and intermediate support at Rs 162 level, according to Motilal Oswal. The brokerage firm advised its clients to buy on dips targeting higher resistance at Rs 166-168 zone.

At 09:28 (GMT), the natural gas price was up 1.67 percent quoting at $2.18 per mmBtu in New York.