U.S. natural gas speculators this week boosted their net long positions for a second week in a row, betting prices will rise on the possibility there will be less gas than usual in storage for this winter due to low output and rising exports.
Speculators in four major New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) markets added to their bullish bets by 10,205 contracts to 282,521 in the week to July 3, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.