Thursday, December 8th saw the January NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $5.860, fourteen cents above Wednesday’s closing price of $5.723. Marking the intraday low of $5.808 within minutes of the open, prices rose to chop around the $5.900 level leading up to the weekly storage report. Following a brief spike to $6.000 as the report hit the wire, the contract ascended into the afternoon as traders placed their faith in the latest bullish forecasts. Marking the intraday high of $6.164 at 1:30PM, January closed higher on Thursday at $5.962.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Thursday showed a 21 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended December 2 – in line with the market estimate of 20 BCF. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,462 BCF; 1.5% below this time last year and 1.6% below the five-year average.
As of 6:45AM EST this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up 42 cents; Natural Gas was down three cents; Heating Oil was down slightly; and Gasoline was up slightlyt.
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.
