U.S. natural gas speculators cut their net long positions for a fifth week in a row on forecasts that the weather will remain warmer than normal for the rest of the winter. Speculators in four major NYMEX and ICE markets reduced their bullish bets by 41,891 contracts to 256,808 in the week to Feb. 21, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday. It was the longest decline in net longs since April 2015. That compares with a five-year (2012-16) average speculative net long position of around 127,300. The biggest net long position was 456,475 in April 2013, while the biggest net short position was 166,165 in November 2015, according to Reuters data. Gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $2.79 per million British […]