July natural gas posted a double-digit gain as traders factored in a warmer temperature forecast and the emergence of tropical activity in the central Caribbean. At the end of the day July rose 12.0 cents to $4.827 and August gained 11.8 cents to $4.857. July crude oil tumbled $1.21 to $99.01/bbl.
Caribbean
Articles from Caribbean
Despite Hurricane, Relatively Small Injection, Futures Settle 29 Cents Lower
With both natural gas and crude inventory reports coming in somewhat bullish, Hurricane Dennis continuing to strengthen in the Caribbean and the apparent terrorist attacks in London causing chaos, traders didn’t know which way to look on Thursday. Despite all of the seemingly bullish news on the day, the natural gas futures market seemed predisposed to drop lower.
Caught Between Storage and Storm, Traders Push Prices Modestly Lower
With one eye on the tropical disturbance in the Caribbean and the other focused on Thursday’s storage report, natural gas futures traders took a wait-and-see approach to the market Wednesday. The result was choppy, sideways-to-lower trading. The September futures contract failed to retest the $5.28 high achieved in the overnight Access trading session Wednesday, paving the way for light long liquidation. It closed at $5.179, down 3.8 cents for the session.
Tropical Wave, Heat Noted in Big Post-Holiday Rally
News of a tropical wave approaching the Caribbean Sea, generally warm to hot weather in most of the nation, the end of weekend OFOs on several pipes and the usual rebound in load following a long weekend were cited by sources in explaining Monday’s double-digit gains at nearly all points.
Eying Storage, Weather, Traders Take Wait-and-See Approach
Despite bearish storage data and the formation of a tropical storm in the northwestern Caribbean Sea Wednesday afternoon, natural gas futures shuffled mostly sideways Thursday as neither bull nor bear was willing to propel the market very much in either direction. After being held to a relatively-tight, 15-cent trading range, the December contract finished a tenth of a cent lower at $3.29. Estimated volume was 73,349 contracts.