Tuesday, January 21st saw the front-month NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Contract open at $3.800, down $0.148 compared to Friday’s closing price of $3.948. Achieving the intraday high of $3.842 at 9:35AM, prices then trended lower heading into midday. Following the holiday weekend polar vortex, many analysts were surprised that freeze-offs were not as disruptive. Marking the intraday low of $3.719 at 12:25PM, the contract traded sideways through the afternoon. February closed lower on Monday at $3.756; down 4.8% from Friday.
The EIA Natural Gas Storage Report is due out Thursday at 10:30AM. The report is expected to show a 245 BCF withdrawal from storage for the week ended January 17. This compares to a 277 BCF withdrawal this time last year and a five-year average withdrawal amount of 167 BCF.
As of 7:15AM this morning in Globex, WTI Crude was up $0.210; Natural Gas was up $0.007; Heating Oil was up $0.009; and Gasoline was up $0.007.
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