Natural Gas Futures Retreat After ‘Too Much, Too Fast’ Climb; California Cash Still Declining

It took some convincing, but traders have woken up to the incredible looseness still penetrating the natural gas market. After a bearish storage report, the September Nymex gas futures contract dropped 7.4 cents to $2.352. October fell 6.0 cents to $2.503.

Spot gas prices also were mostly lower, with steep decreases continuing to be seen in California after intense heat earlier in the week. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. slid 5.5 cents to $2.165.

With international gas prices on the rise, the U.S. gas market has enjoyed a run over the last two weeks that lifted September futures above the $2.40 mark. However, the idea that the doors are now open for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to “roar back” to pre-Covid-19 levels is something that most of the market already had been...