The January NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract settled at $4.709 on Wednesday December 28th.
Markets were closed yesterday in observance of the New Year holiday.
Friday, December 30rd saw the February NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $4.475, eight cents below Thursday’s closing price of $4.559. Following the post-Christmas sell-off, as prices crumbled due to extended bearish forecasts expected to last well into January, the newly crowned front-month chopped around the $4.400 level on Friday morning. Marking an intraday low of $4.378 by 10:10AM, the contract rose shortly after midday to record the intraday high of $4.544 at 12:45PM. February closed lower on Friday at $4.475.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published on Thursday showed a 213 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended December 23 – greater than the market estimate of 199 BCF. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,112 BCF; 4.1% below this time last year and 2.7% below the five-year average.
As of 6:15AM EST this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was down $1.08; Natural Gas was down 41 cents; Heating Oil was down six cents; and Gasoline was down five cents.
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.