Natural Gas: Understanding Recent Market Movements

Wednesday, April 1st saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas contract open at $2.848, $0.036 below Tuesday’s closing price 2.884. Marking the intraday high of $2.851 twice before 9:40AM, the contract gradually withdrew throughout the session as the market focused on domestic fundamentals, waning cold weather and steady production. Recording the intraday low of $2.785 at 1:00PM, May closed lower on Wednesday at $2.819.

The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report is due out Thursday at 10:30AM. The report is expected to show a 39 BCF injection to storage for the week ended March 27. This compares to a 29 BCF injection this time last year and a five-year average withdrawal amount of 4 BCF.

As of 7:00AM this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up $8.250; Natural Gas was up $0.038; Heating Oil was up $0.437; and Gasoline was up $0.208.

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.