Jeremiah Shelor

As the rains battered the upper Texas coast and beyond Thursday, a weekly storage report that topped expectations put a damper on natural gas futures prices, sending the prompt month lower for a third straight session. The October Nymex contract plunged 9.9 cents to settle at $2.538/MMBtu, near the day’s low at $2.530. November dropped 9.6 cents to $2.569.

The U.S. rig count as of Friday had fallen by double digits for the second week in a row, with the week’s losses focused in Oklahoma and Texas, according to data from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).

The U.S. natural gas rig count fell five rigs to 148 as of Friday, part of a second straight week of double-digit declines for overall domestic drilling activity, according to data from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).

With supportive late-season heat expected to start eating into heating demand soon, and with the market continuing to look oversupplied, natural gas futures eased lower Friday. The October Nymex contract slid 0.4 cents to $2.534/MMBtu, while November dropped 1.4 cents to $2.555.

The natural gas spot price uplift from a warmer-than-normal start to the shoulder season appeared to wane during the week ended Sept. 20; driven by discounts in the West, as well as in the Northeast and Appalachia, NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. fell 6.0 cents to $2.255/MMBtu.

Forecasts pointing to somewhat weaker demand through next week helped push natural gas futures lower in early trading Thursday as the market prepared to turn its attention to the latest government inventory data. The October Nymex contract was off 1.7 cents to $2.620/MMBtu shortly after 8:30 a.m. ET.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported an 84 Bcf weekly injection into U.S. natural gas stocks, bearish versus expectations, and futures prices gave up close to a nickel on the news.

After rallying to start the week, natural gas futures prices gave up ground for a second consecutive session Wednesday as the market looked ahead to what was expected to be a near-average weekly inventory report. The October Nymex futures contract settled 3.1 cents lower at $2.637/MMBtu after trading as high as $2.696 and as low as $2.603. November settled at $2.665, down 3.5 cents.

As the rains battered the upper Texas coast and beyond Thursday, a weekly storage report that topped expectations put a damper on natural gas futures prices, sending the prompt month lower for a third straight session. The October Nymex contract plunged 9.9 cents to settle at $2.538/MMBtu, near the day’s low at $2.530. November dropped 9.6 cents to $2.569.