Dime

Physical natural gas prices at most points across the country rose about a dime Tuesday, but if the highly volatile Northeast is added to the mix, the overall change is a loss of about 3 cents.

Natural gas pricing Tuesday was widely varied with the overall market showing an average loss of a dime. Once the high-flying New England pipelines such as Algonquin, Tennessee and Iroquois are factored out, however, the market actually showed a gain of 13 cents.

Cash prices overall gained about a dime at most points, but if a handful of New England and highly volatile eastern points are factored in, the national average gain on Monday for Tuesday delivery came in at just under a penny.

The physical market lost a dime on average Thursday, but it was a mixed performance with gains in producing regions such as the Gulf Coast, Midcontinent and Rockies unable to offset free-falling prices in the Northeast and East.

Physical natural gas prices overall traded down an average of about a dime Thursday as most traders elected to get deals done prior to the release of Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage data.

Natural gas cash points overall vaulted on average by more than a dime Wednesday as the high demand and thinly supplied Northeast registered gains approaching $1.00 or more. Points to the south of New England saw smaller gains, and the Midwest was mixed. At the close of trading December futures had eased 3.9 cents to $3.578 and January had given up 3.4 cents to $3.714. December crude oil plunged $4.27 to $84.44/bbl.

Likely keying off the natural gas screen’s failure to break above $3 on Wednesday, cash points across the country came off mostly by a nickel to a dime on Thursday except for a few spots in the Northeast, which chose their own path.Natural gas futures bulls were dealt a blow Thursday morning after it was reported that a higher-than-expected 57 Bcf storage injection was recorded for the week ending June. 22. While the build was much smaller than historical comparisons, it was still bearish enough when compared to industry expectations to push futures lower on Thursday. The August contract closed the regular session at $2.722, down 7.6 cents.

The cash market on average dropped a dime Tuesday with Northeast points and the Rocky Mountains taking the biggest hits. Volatile weather prompted New England losses, but the Great Lakes and Texas points were weak as well. At the close of futures trading April had fallen 1.8 cents to settle at $2.208 after having ventured as low as $2.176. May lost 2.5 cents to $2.294. May crude oil rose 30 cents to $107.33/bbl.

Most points remained on the slightly firmer side in ranging from flat to about a nickel higher. Losses of up to nearly a dime were most prevalent at Northeast citygates.