Natural gas futures advanced Monday – the first trading session of 2021 – building on the nearly 12-cent gain to finish last year, with U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports strong, production flat and the weather-driven demand outlook improved.
The February Nymex gas futures contract settled at $2.581/MMBtu, up 4.2 cents day/day. March rose 3.5 cents to $2.561.
NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 18.5 cents to $2.625.
Bespoke Weather Services said forecasts over the holiday weekend shifted “materially colder,” tacking on about 20 gas-weighted degree days to the outlook through mid-January.
“While the 15-day period as a whole remains solidly warmer than normal, we have chipped away at a good deal of the warmth, and it is important, in our view, to note that...