Friday, January 12th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $3.229, thirteen cents above Thursday’s closing price of $3.097. Supported early on by the impending storm bringing arctic temperatures and heavy snow to the Midwest, prices rose steadily to the intraday high of $3.375 by 9:45AM. Pulling back to record the intraday low of $3.201 an hour later, the contract posted a gradual ascent into the afternoon. February closed higher Friday at $3.313.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Thursday showed a 140 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended January 5 – above the market estimate 112 BCF. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,336 BCF; 15.0% above this time last year and 11.6% above the five-year average.
As of 8:20AM EST this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was $1.01; Natural Gas was down 16 cents; Heating Oil was down four cents; and Gasoline was down one cent.
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.
