Markets

June Nymex natural gas futures climbed with the mercury as hot weather supports cooling demand, driving prices to four-month highs. At A Glance: Futures up 12.5 cents Strong cooling demand Cash gains with heat The front-month contract settled at $2.751/MMBtu, up 12.5 cents from Friday. Momentum is driving June futures to a level not seen…

Mexico

Mexico’s next government must improve access to natural gas in the country’s south-southeastern region, according to the Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (IMCO) think tank.  Although the region accounts for most of Mexico’s domestic gas production, homes and businesses there lack access to the fuel, leading to higher electricity costs and fewer development opportunities than…

LNG

Hot weather, maintenance at power generation facilities and LNG production outages have combined to push Asian natural gas prices higher. The July Japan-Korea Marker futures contract was trading above $11/MMBtu after climbing 7% last week.  One of three trains at Chevron Corp.’s Gorgon liquefied natural gas export facility in Western Australia, which mainly serves Asia,…

MidDay Alert

Natural gas futures continued to soar through midday trading Monday, with warm May temperatures hinting at upcoming summer cooling demand to keep bulls firmly in control. Here’s the latest: June Nymex futures at $2.741 at around 2:10 p.m. ET, up 11.5 cents Speculators as a group covered short positions during the week ended May 14,…