May 15, 2023
Friday, May 12
th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $2.171, two cents below Thursday’s closing price of $2.190. Recording the intraday low of $2.160 within minutes of the open, prices rose to trade within a tight band near $2.215 through midday. Surging to a near two-week intraday high of $2.335 at 1:25PM, per Baker Hughes Co., Oil and Natural Gas rig count dropped to its lowest mark in nearly a year. Sustaining this jump into the close, June finished higher on Friday at $2.266; up 6% on the week.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published on Thursday showed a 78 BCF injection to storage for the week ended May 5 – in line with the market estimate of 82 BCF. Total working gas in storage was reported as 2,141 BCF; 31.2% above this time last year and 18.4% above the five-year average.
As of 7:00AM EST this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up 23 cents; Natural Gas was up four cents; Heating Oil was up one cent; and Gasoline was flat.
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