May natural gas futures moved to the front of the curve for the first time Thursday and took a beating after a bearish storage print affirmed supply/demand imbalance concerns heading into shoulder season.

storage

At A Glance:

  • Production falls to 97 Bcf/d
  • Forecasts for mixed demand
  • NGI models draw of 41 Bcf

The May Nymex gas futures contract lost 8.0 cents day/day and settled at $2.104/MMBtu. June fell 9.0 cents to $2.358.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. advanced 11.0 cents to $2.580, fueled by gains in the West. Prices, though, remained weak in most regions.

Production held above 100 Bcf/d on Thursday, as it has throughout the trading week and much of 2023. National Weather Service forecasts, meanwhile, continued to show increasingly benign conditions heading into April.

Mild...