Jeremiah Shelor

Both natural gas futures and physical markets bounced back Monday after posting discounts heading into the weekend, with prices getting a boost from lingering September heat and demand impacts from former Hurricane Florence that proved less extensive than previously predicted. The NGI National Spot Gas Average picked up 18 cents on the day to $2.72/MMBtu.

With Hurricane Florence making landfall in the Carolinas and the market left to wait to assess the storm’s full impact, October natural gas futures were trading slightly lower shortly after 8 a.m. ET Friday, down about 0.8 cents to $2.809/MMBtu.

The United States netted seven rigs — all of them oil-directed — for the week ended Sept. 14, including gains in Louisiana, Colorado and Oklahoma, according to data Friday from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).

The domestic natural gas drilling count held flat for the week ended Sept. 14, but an uptick in oil-directed drilling drove the total number of active U.S. rigs to 1,055, according to data Friday from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).

The prospect of demand destruction from Hurricane Florence as it hammered the Carolinas Friday helped send natural gas futures lower, although not enough to break below the recent trading range.

The prospect of demand destruction from Hurricane Florence as it hammered the Carolinas Friday helped send natural gas futures lower, although not enough to break below the recent trading range.

Even with some lingering hot weather, natural gas spot prices generally moved lower for the week ended Sept. 14 as markets watched for impacts from the latest round of tropical weather. TheNGIWeekly National Spot Gas Average fell 11 cents to $2.60/MMBtu.

As potential demand destruction from Hurricane Florence continues to command the natural gas market’s attention, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 69 Bcf build for the week ended Sept. 7 that barely moved the needle.

With the market left to process the short-term impacts of a raging hurricane and the long-term implications of the latest government storage data, natural gas futures traded both sides of even Thursday before finishing slightly lower on the day. Spot prices were mixed as gains in the Midwest offset modest declines along a Southeast coast bracing for impact; the NGI National Spot Gas Average gave up 2 cents to $2.61/MMBtu.