Thursday, January 4th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $2.845, eighteen cents above Wednesday’s closing price of $2.668. Marking the intraday high of $2.858 within minutes of the open, prices withdrew to trade near $2.780 ahead of the weekly storage publication. Following a bearish storage withdrawal, prices fell to an intraday low of $2.739 at 10:45AM. Forecasts for a notable cold spell by mid-month helped to buoy the contract in the afternoon hour to reclaim the $2.800 level. February closed higher on Thursday at $2.821.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Thursday showed a 14 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended December 29 – below the market estimate 38 BCF. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,476 BCF; 18.9% above this time last year and 13.0% above the five-year average.
As of 6:15AM EST this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up 45 cents; Natural Gas was down six cents; Heating Oil was up slightly; and Gasoline was flat.
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