Expiring

Prices continued to ignore mostly moderate weather in registering small gains at most points Thursday. The previous day’s 5.5-cent increase by expiring May futures played a role in the general cash firmness, as did temperatures reaching the low to mid 80s in much of the South.

After showing early signs of a rally, the expiring April natural gas futures contract on Monday resumed the downtrend of the last few months, locking in a low of $3.820 before going off the board at $3.842, down 3 cents from Friday’s close. The May contract finished the day at $3.916, down 1.4 cents from Friday’s finish.

After showing early signs of a rally, the expiring April natural gas futures contract on Monday resumed the downtrend of the last few months, locking in a low of $3.820 before going off the board at $3.842, down 3 cents from Friday’s close. The May contract finished the day at $3.916, down 1.4 cents from Friday’s finish.

Aided by a developing storm system in the tropics, July natural gas futures pushed higher for much of Friday’s regular session. The expiring contract touched the psychological $4 level just prior to going off the board at $3.949, up 10.5 cents from Thursday’s finish but 8.3 cents lower than the previous week’s close. The August contract gained 11.6 cents to $4.105 on Friday.

Traders looking for the expiring May natural gas futures contract to test psychological support at $3 were sorely disappointed Tuesday as it instead finished its run by gaining 6.8 cents over Monday’s close to terminate at $3.321. The June contract, which takes over Wednesday as the prompt month, added 7.8 cents to close at $3.440.

Natural gas futures trading took a back seat Monday to the wild day of action in the expiring October crude contract, which at one point was trading more than $25 higher than Friday’s close. October crude ended up going off the board at $120.92/bbl, up $16.37, or nearly 16% from Friday’s close, while October natural gas gained 13.7 cents to finish at $7.658/MMBtu.

Expiring September natural gas futures managed a modest gain Wednesday but were well off the Gustav-induced highs of the session. Traders lamented that the uncertainties of Gustav’s path and the direction of natural gas futures were joined at the hip, but suggested that the near-term trend was higher.

Despite revisiting sub-$9 prices for the third time over the last four sessions, expiring August natural gas futures tiptoed out the back door instead of making a grand exit on Tuesday as the contract quietly recorded a 5.4-cent gain to go off the board at $9.217. In contrast, September natural gas shaved 6.5 cents to finish the day at $9.130.

Stemming the freefall of the last two days, the expiring July natural gas futures contract — with some help from significant strength in crude futures — rallied Thursday morning as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 90 Bcf injection to storage for the week ended June 20. The contract recorded a high of $13.222 late in the regular session before going off of the board at $13.105, up 35.2 cents from Wednesday’s close. August futures, which now take over front-month contract classification, finished Thursday at $13.248, up 38.2 cents from Wednesday.