Monday, January 6th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $3.684, up $0.330 compared to Friday’s closing price of $3.354. Recording the intraday high of $3.726 within minutes of the open, strong demand and below average temperatures covering much of the country provided support. Falling to a low of $3.554 at 10:25AM, volatility persisted throughout the day amidst shifting forecasts. Crossing midday at $3.683 and falling to $3.574 at 1:15PM, the session finished on an upswing as February closed higher on Monday at $3.672.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Friday showed a 116 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended December 27 – below the market estimate of a 127 BCF withdrawal. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,413 BCF; 1.9% below this time last year and 4.7% above the five-year average.
As of 6:55AM this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up $0.540; Natural Gas was down $0.125; Heating Oil was up $0.014, and Gasoline was up $0.010.
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