Friday, August 22nd saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas contract open at $2.766, $0.060 below Thursday’s closing price of $2.826. Recording the intraday high of $2.790 at 9:25AM, the contract then continued its overnight descent as steady bearish fundamentals took control. Falling to cross midday at $2.718, prices withdrew to mark a fresh nine-month intraday low of $2.694. September closed lower on Friday at $2.698; down 7.5% on the week.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Thursday posted a 13 BCF injection to storage for the week ended August 15 – in line with the market estimate of an 18 BCF injection. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,199 BCF; 2.9% below this time last year and 5.8% above the five-year average.
As of 7:30AM this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up $0.480; Natural Gas was down $0.062; Heating Oil was up $0.032; and Gasoline was down $0.003.
New York basis values were unchanged for all seasons, whereas New England basis values were lower for the current summer months and higher for the coming winter season. Additionally, cash prices were lower in New York and New England.
