December

Permits to drill in the U.S. onshore hit their second highest level for 2018 in December at 5,647, behind only November, Evercore ISI said Tuesday.

Production of natural gas and oil from the nation’s seven most prolific onshore unconventional plays, which has been on the upswing throughout 2017, is expected to increase again in the first month of 2018 compared with December, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

January natural gas was set to open about 4 cents higher at around $2.815 Monday, as forecasters were pointing to some potential cold risks in the long-range weather outlook.

December natural gas was set to open about a dime higher at around $2.92 Monday, with the market eyeing long-range cold after a large drop Friday to price in some above-normal temperatures in the shorter-term.

December natural gas was set to open Tuesday about a penny lower at around $3.035 as more disagreement between the major weather models clouded the outlook for early December.

December natural gas was set to open about 6 cents lower Monday at around $3.04 amid mixed signals in the weather data and some uncertainty about the extent of a cold pattern expected to move in at the start of December.

December natural gas was set to open about 4 cents higher Friday at around $3.09 as one of the major weather models turned cooler overnight in its outlook for a pair of weather systems expected to boost heating demand over the next two weeks.

December natural gas was set to open about 2 cents higher Thursday at around $3.10 as all eyes turn to the 10:30 a.m. EDT release of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) storage inventory data.

December natural gas was set to open about 2 cents higher at around $3.12 Wednesday as the market continues to puzzle over mixed weather signals ahead of Thursday’s storage inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).