Expected

April natural gas is expected to open 4 cents higher Tuesday morning at $3.08 as traders are expected to focus less on near-term weather and more on broader market issues. Overnight oil markets rose.

April natural gas is expected to open unchanged Thursday morning at $2.80 as traders cogitate on near-term cooler weather and look past a government report that is expected to show minimum usage. Overnight oil markets plunged.

March natural gas is expected to open 10 cents lower Monday morning at $3.26 as near-term weather forecasts could only come up with transient cold patterns affecting major eastern energy markets. Overnight oil markets weakened.

February natural gas is expected to open 7 cents lower Friday morning at $3.30 as traders admit any near-term advance will require additional cold weather, which for the moment is not forthcoming. Overnight oil markets rose.

Oil and natural gas production from seven of the nation’s largest unconventional plays is expected to increase slightly next month, as is new-well production per rig, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Parsley Energy Inc. agreed late Tuesday to pay $607 million to bolt on 23,000 net leasehold acres in West Texas, within the Permian’s Midland and southern Delaware sub-basins.

February natural gas is expected to open 4 cents lower Friday morning at $3.76 as traders moderate their expectations of further weather-driven price gains. Overnight oil markets weakened.

Texas power demand is increasing faster than previously thought, according to a new report from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates most of the state’s power grid. Texas gets more than half of its power from natural gas-fueled generation.

Natural gas production from the nation’s seven largest unconventional plays, which has been on a downward trend for more than a year, is expected to increase in January, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).