Average

May natural gas is set to open unchanged Wednesday morning at $3.15 as traders factor in moderately supportive weather with conflicting long-term price views. Overnight oil markets gained.

A flurry of buying interest and strength in spot natural gas prices sent Nymex April futures up 10 cents between March 24 and 29 to expire at $3.175. May futures, meanwhile, are desperately trying to maintain that momentum, creeping up just 4 cents through March 30 as generally bearish sentiment continues to pressure the gas markets.

Natural gas forwards markets slid an average of 11 cents at the front of the curve between March 10 and 16 as the luck of the Irish proved elusive, thanks to a smaller-than-expected storage withdrawal and weather forecasts calling for increasingly mild weather to close out March.

Natural gas forwards markets slid an average of 11 cents at the front of the curve between March 10 and 16 as the luck of the Irish proved elusive, thanks to a smaller-than-expected storage withdrawal and weather forecasts calling for increasingly mild weather to close out March.

Retail natural gas utility bills in Colorado are headed up, according to Xcel Energy’s Denver-based combination utility, which sees a 12-16% rise in monthly bills coming in 2Q2017 compared to the same quarter last year. Xcel made a quarterly gas cost adjustment filing to state regulators on Wednesday calling for residential gas rates to increase to 33.6 cents/therm next quarter, compared to 24.1 cents/therm for the second quarter last year, a 12% increase to average bills of a little more than $30 monthly. For small businesses, the rate increases to 33.3 cents/therm from 23.8 cents/th in 2Q2016, an increase of 16% to average bills of $125 each month. Xcel asked the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to approve the rates to be effective April 1.

With both a successful initial public offering (IPO) and a favorable regulatory decision in its rearview mirror, Denver-based Extraction Oil & Gas LLC said Tuesday it expects average production this year to grow by about 17% at the midpoint compared with 2016.

April natural gas is set to open 3 cents higher Thursday morning at $2.93 as overnight weather models call for near-term cooling and analysts study seasonal price patterns. Overnight oil markets dived once again.

Relatively warm winter weather across most of the country has dulled demand for natural gas, resulting in a 12% decrease in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) forecast Henry Hub spot price for 2017, to $3.03/MMBtu, the agency said in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), which was released Tuesday.

Relatively warm winter weather across most of the country has dulled demand for natural gas, resulting in a 12% decrease in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) forecast Henry Hub spot price for 2017, to $3.03/MMBtu, the agency said in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), which was released Tuesday.