U.S. natural gas speculators cut their net long positions for a second week in a row on forecasts that the weather will moderate for most of the rest of the winter. Speculators in four major NYMEX and ICE markets reduced their bullish bets by 11,699 contracts to 314,396 in the week to Jan. 31, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. That compares with a five-year (2012-16) average speculative net long position of around 127,300 contracts. The biggest net long position was 456,475 contracts in April 2013, while the biggest net short position was 166,165 contracts in November 2015, according to Reuters data. Gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $3.29 per million British thermal units during the five trading days ended Jan. 31, versus $3.28 during the five trading days ended Jan. 24. The latest long-term forecasts call for warmer-than-normal temperatures through the end […]