Thursday, February 28th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $2.833, roughly three cents above Wednesday’s closing price of $2.799. Recording the intraday high of $2.843 at 9:30AM, as prices traded within a two-cent band of $2.830 through 10:30AM, the weekly storage publication then directed the contract lower. Despite news of the above-average withdrawal, the report was in line with traders’ expectations as prices fell to the intraday low of $2.787 an hour later. Finding stability near $2.810 as the day drew on, all eyes are now looking to how long below-average temperatures will stretch into March. The April contract closed higher on the day at $2.812.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published on Thursday showed a 166 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended February 22nd – below the market estimate of 175 BCF. Total working gas in storage was reported as 1,539 BCF; 9.1% below this time last year and 21.6% below the five-year average.
This morning in Globex, WTI Crude was down 12 cents; Natural Gas was unchanged; Heating Oil was down one cent; and Gasoline was up slightly.
Natural Gas Glossary
Natural Gas Supplier
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.
