Wednesday, December 21st saw the January NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $5.519, nineteen cents above Tuesday’s closing price of $5.326. Tallying the intraday high of $5.609 by 9:15AM, the contract’s overnight gains can be attributed to production disruptions amidst challenging wintry conditions. Trading along either side of the $5.500 level through midday, prices trended downward into the afternoon. Marking the intraday low of $5.265 at 2:10PM, January closed slightly higher on Wednesday at $5.332.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report is due out on Thursday at 10:30AM. The report is expected to show a 94 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended December 16. This compares to a 55 BCF withdrawal at this time last year and a five-year average withdrawal amount of 124 BCF.
As of 7:10AM EST this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up $1.25; Natural Gas was up six cents; Heating Oil was up five cents; and Gasoline was up three cents.
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.