Natural Gas Trends and Price Movements This Week

Monday, March 9th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas contract open at $3.344, $0.158 above Friday’s closing price $3.186. Recording a four-week intraday high of $3.360 within minutes of the opening bell, pre-market trading had lifted the contract following the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Having drifted into over-bought territory, prices then posted a sharp withdrawal as traders attempted to realign with domestic fundamentals. Crossing midday at $3.135 and falling to an intraday low of $3.072 at 12:50PM, April closed lower on Monday at $3.120.

The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Thursday posted a 132 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended February 27 – greater than the market estimate of a 125 BCF withdrawal. Total working gas in storage was reported as 1,886 BCF; 6.5% below this time last year and 2.2% below the five-year average.

As of 6:30AM this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was down $6.500; Natural Gas was down $0.018; Heating Oil was down $0.030; and Gasoline was down $0.110.

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