Friday, January 19th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $2.614, eight cents below Thursday’s closing price of $2.697. Recording the intraday high of $2.625 within minutes of the opening bell, notably mild conditions forecasted to close out the month, and possibly bleed into February, directed prices lower throughout the session. The contract fluctuated along the $2.530 level for the majority of the afternoon, marking the intraday low of $2.514 at 11:55AM and again at 2:20PM. February closed lower on Friday at $2.519, down nearly 24% on the week.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Thursday showed a 154 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended January 12 – below the market estimate 176 BCF. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,182 BCF; 12.4% above this time last year and 11.2% above the five-year average.
As of 7:15AM EST this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up 33 cents; Natural Gas was down 15 cents; Heating Oil was up one cent; and Gasoline was up two cents.
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