Friday, January 10th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $3.910, up $0.209 compared to Thursday’s closing price of $3.701. Bolstered by weather models finding common ground on a bullish shift to already below-average forecasts, the contract posted a staggered ascent through the morning. Providing additional support, freezing temperatures have also hindered production. Reaching a one-year intraday high of $4.018 at 1:00PM, February closed higher on Friday at $3.989; up 18.9% on the week.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published on Wednesday showed a 40 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended January 3 – below the market estimate of a 48 BCF withdrawal. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,373 BCF; 0.1% below this time last year and 6.4% above the five-year average.
As of 7:30AM this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up $1.650; Natural Gas was up $0.174; Heating Oil was up $0.045, and Gasoline was up $0.024.
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