Friday, January 4
th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contracts open at $3.026, eight cents above Thursday’s closing price of $2.945. Prices sank lower as trading began, finding support near $2.980 through 10:20AM. Declining to the intraday low of $2.917 as the bearish storage report hit the wire, the contract then mounted a steady ascent to cross midday near $2.990. Defying above-average, short-term weather forecasts, momentum carried prices to the intraday high of $3.049 before closing higher on Friday at $3.044.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published on Friday showed a 20 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended December 28
th – below the market estimate of 35 BCF. Total working gas in storage was reported as 2,705 BCF; 14.3% below this time last year and 17.2% below the five-year average.
This morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up $1.08; Natural Gas was down nine cents; Heating Oil was up four cents; and Gasoline was up three cents.
New York and New England basis values were higher for all seasons. Additionally, cash prices were higher in New York and New England.
Natural Gas Glossary
Natural Gas Supplier
For access to Sprague’s full Natural Gas Market Watch Report including commentary not posted here, please send your request to
natgas@spragueenergy.com or call 1-855-466-2842.
This market update is provided for information purposes only and is not intended as advice on any transaction nor is it a solicitation to buy or sell commodities. Sprague makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents of such news, including, without limitation, its accuracy and completeness, and Sprague shall not be responsible for the consequence of reliance upon any opinions, statements, projections and analyses presented herein or for any omission or error in fact. The views expressed in this material are through the period as of the date of this report and are subject to change based on market and other conditions. This document contains certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance or results and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. The whole or any part of this work may not be reproduced, copied, or transmitted or any of its contents disclosed to third parties without Sprague’s express written consent.