Monday, December 8th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas contract open at $5.014, $0.275 below Friday’s closing price of $5.289. Gapping lower over the weekend as weather models posted a bearish shift and profit-taking took hold, the contract recorded an intraday high of $5.041 at 9:30AM. Stabilizing near $4.940 through midday, prices fell to an intraday low of $4.895 at 2:25PM. January closed lower on Monday at $4.912.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Thursday posted a 12 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended November 28 – below the market estimate of a 16 BCF withdrawal. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,923 BCF; 0.5% below this time last year and 5.1% above the five-year average.
As of 7:00AM this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up $0.240; Natural Gas was down $0.107; Heating Oil was up $0.007; and Gasoline was up $0.013.
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