Jeremiah Shelor

Another day of whipsaw price action saw natural gas futures slip lower after probing both sides of even, with a larger-than-expected storage withdrawal from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) failing to spark much momentum for the bulls. In the spot market, forecasts calling for mild temperatures sent Northeast prices lower as points throughout the middle third of the Lower 48 rebounded; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. added 7.5 cents to $3.465/MMBtu.

January natural gas futures were trading 15.4 cents lower at $3.673/MMBtu shortly before 9 a.m. ET Monday as forecasters pointed to weekend guidance showing more intense cold unlikely to arrive until around New Year’s Day at the earliest.

Virginia’s State Water Control Board (SWCB) plans to hold a hearing to decide whether to revoke Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC’s (MVP) state-issued water quality permit, creating even more regulatory uncertainty for a project that has faced numerous setbacks.

Except under the lowest demand scenarios, natural gas inventories are on track to exit March below comparable year-ago and five-year-average levels, making shifts in weather all-important at a time of diminished gas-to-coal switching potential in the power stack, according to analysts.

January natural gas futures were down 17.8 cents to $3.946/MMBtu shortly before 9 a.m. ET Friday, with prices dipping below the $4 mark as forecasters pointed to patterns showing milder temperatures sticking around in the East into late December.

Dealing yet another legal blow to the embattled Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC (ACP), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) erred when it signed off on the project’s plans to cross federal lands.

The U.S. rig count dropped four units to finish at 1,071 for the week ended Friday (Dec. 14) thanks to a decline in oil-directed drilling, including losses in the Permian and Williston basins, according to data from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).

The U.S. natural rig count finished even at 198 for the week ended Friday (Dec. 14) as a decline in oil activity sent the overall domestic tally lower, according to data from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).

January natural gas futures were up 9.7 cents to $4.233/MMBtu shortly before 9 a.m. ET Thursday, with the market awaiting the release of government storage data and forecasters pointing to slightly more supportive long-range weather trends overnight.