North American natural gas price futures continued to be under $4.00/MMBtu this week. Meanwhile, forecasts for 2023 point to lower prices than last year, but with important regional differences.

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Henry Hub, a key pricing location for most of Mexico, is set to recover to average near $5/MMBtu for the first quarter of 2023, according to updated projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

In 2022, the wholesale U.S. natural gas spot price at Henry Hub averaged $6.45/MMBtu, the highest level since 2008, according to EIA. This was up 53% from 2021. Volatility was also off the charts. On a daily basis, the Henry Hub spot natural gas price ranged from $3.46 to $9.85/MMBtu, EIA said. Analysts don’t see the volatility going away any time soon.

EIA however