Jeremiah Shelor

The U.S. natural gas patch held steady at 198 rigs for the week ended Friday (Jan. 4) as a pullback in oil-focused activity paced an overall decline in domestic drilling activity, according to data from Baker Hughes, a GE Company.

The natural gas futures market managed to shake off a particularly bearish government storage report Friday as forecasts for a potential shift to colder temperatures later this month seemed to inspire some buying after recent declines.

The natural gas futures market managed to shake off a particularly bearish government storage report Friday as forecasts for a potential shift to colder temperatures later this month seemed to inspire some buying after recent declines.

Continued mild weather to start the new year meant storage fears — and natural gas prices — continued to fade during the week ended Friday (Jan. 4); selling across most of the Lower 48 saw theNGIWeekly Spot Gas National Avg. drop 26.5 cents to $2.805/MMBtu.

Forecasts showing overall mild conditions through mid-January continued to pressure natural gas futures lower Thursday as traders looked ahead to another potentially bearish government storage report. In the spot market, expectations for Lower 48 weather-driven demand to ease into next week accompanied declines across most regions; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. slid 11.5 cents to $2.690/MMBtu.

Forecasts showing overall mild conditions through mid-January continued to pressure natural gas futures lower Thursday as traders looked ahead to another potentially bearish government storage report. In the spot market, expectations for Lower 48 weather-driven demand to ease into next week accompanied declines across most regions; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. slid 11.5 cents to $2.690/MMBtu.

A new year brought a new outlook for natural gas markets Wednesday, with a mild forecast for the first half of January bringing a return to sub-$3 prices as the storage concerns that drove up risk premiums earlier in the heating season appear largely assuaged. Influenced by sagging futures, spot markets struggled through a post-New Year’s hangover, though a few locations in the West gained ahead of cold temperatures and precipitation expected this weekend; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. tumbled 26.5 cents to $2.915/MMBtu.

A new year brought a new outlook for natural gas markets Wednesday, with a mild forecast for the first half of January bringing a return to sub-$3 prices as the storage concerns that drove up risk premiums earlier in the heating season appear largely assuaged. Influenced by sagging futures, spot markets struggled through a post-New Year’s hangover, though a few locations in the West gained ahead of cold temperatures and precipitation expected this weekend; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. tumbled 26.5 cents to $2.915/MMBtu.

The U.S. oil and natural gas rig count climbed by three to 1,083 for the week ended Friday (Dec. 28), nearly bringing to a close a year of growth in domestic drilling activity, according to data from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).