Friday, August 16th saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $2.146, five cents below Thursday’s closing price of $2.197. Extending to the intraday high of $2.179 by 9:15AM, the contract then continued the previous day’s retreat amid forecasts for reduced cooling demand and an oversupplied market. Trading sideways along $2.125 by midday and recording an intraday low of $2.119 a few times throughout the session, September closed lower on Friday at $2.123.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report published last Thursday showed a 6 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended August 9 – below the market estimate of a 1 BCF injection. Total working gas in storage was reported as 3,264 BCF; 6.8% above this time last year and 13.0% above the five-year average.
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