Bulls

Both physical and futures natural gas values drifted higher in uninspired trading Tuesday, as traders were reading the tea leaves for the market’s next big move. Physical natural gas prices were widely mixed, but most points held within a nickel either side of unchanged.

In Tuesday’s next-day trading, broad gains from the Marcellus westward were unable to counter steep Northeast declines and the market fell 4 cents to $2.61.

Physical natural gas slipped lower in Monday's trading for Tuesday deliveries as traders find themselves staring down the barrel of a near-term market environment that may feature a series of triple-digit additions to storage and elimination of the year-on-five-year storage deficit.

Physical natural gas slipped lower in Monday’s trading for Tuesday deliveries as traders find themselves staring down the barrel of a near-term market environment that may feature a series of triple-digit additions to storage and elimination of the year-on-five-year storage deficit.

May natural gas is set to open a penny higher Monday morning at $2.52 despite both fundamentals followers and market technicians seeing prices working lower. Overnight oil markets rose.

April natural gas is expected to open 12 cents lower Monday morning at $2.72 as weather models over the weekend predicted more intense warming. Overnight oil markets eased.

March natural gas is set to open 3 cents higher Tuesday morning at $2.83 as traders factor in forecast-busting continued cold over major energy markets and an strengthening technical picture. Overnight oil markets eased.

November natural gas is expected to open a penny lower Tuesday morning at $3.91 as traders study ways to deal with a market that for the moment has no appreciable trend. Overnight oil markets resumed their plunge.

Demand between now and 2015 will prop up natural gas prices, even with a backlog of drilled wells awaiting connection, and from 2016 to 2018 a “dramatic structural increase” in demand could outpace supply additions and send gas prices to as high as $6.00/MMBtu, BNP Paribas’ Teri Viswanath, director of commodity strategy, said Friday.