Bill Burson

Physical natural gas for weekend and Monday delivery on average nationally was flat in Friday’s trading, hiding the fact that there were major weather-driven declines along the Eastern Seaboard and healthy gains at points positioned to move gas to the Midwest.

Weekly physical gas prices for the five trading days ending Dec. 20 were awash in a sea of red ink. NGI’s National Weekly Spot Gas Average came in at $4.48, down a stout 66 cents with all regions losing anywhere from a nickel to more than $2.

Physical natural gas trading Thursday for Friday delivery was muted for much of the country, with gains or losses of a few pennies, except for in the Northeast, which saw another day of steep price drops. The real news Thursday was made over in the natural gas futures arena, where a record-setting storage withdrawal report opened the gates for the bulls.

January natural gas is expected to open 2 cents higher Wednesday morning at $4.31 as trader expectations of Thursday’s high inventory withdrawal offset near-term warming. Overnight oil markets rose.

Prices of natural gas for delivery Thursday inched higher across much of the country except for in the East, where prices dropped from a dime to $1 at most spots, and up to $10 at some often constrained points serving the New England market.

Physical gas prices for Wednesday delivery fell across the country in Tuesday’s trading as many regions were seeing the mercury creep higher. The stoutest declines were seen in the Northeast.

Physical gas for delivery Tuesday took a page from futures and traded lower overall, with New England posting the greatest losses.

Natural gas for weekend and Monday delivery fell in most regions of the country in Friday’s trading. Stout gains were limited to a few points in the capacity-constrained New England region.

The NGI Weekly Spot Gas average for the week ended Dec. 13 bounded higher by $1.03 to average $5.14 led in large part by the Northeast regional gain of $3.18 to average $7.02 as a broad Arctic chill brought the region’s first real dose of winter.