La Nina

Escalating supply concerns ahead of the summer – forecast to be hotter than usual – appear to be driving huge increases for June baseload natural gas prices, according to NGI’s Bidweek Alert (BWA). After late-season blasts of wintry air hampered production in April, producers are struggling to grow output beyond the recent low to mid-90…

With conditions seen favoring robust cooling demand heading into the summer, natural gas futures climbed in early trading Monday. The June Nymex contract was up 16.9 cents to $7.832/MMBtu at around 8:40 a.m. ET. July was up 17.2 cents to $7.937. Strong power generation demand recently, driven by heat in the southern Lower 48 and…

Big fluctuations continued along the Nymex natural gas futures curve early Monday as traders wrestled with hotter shifts in the latest weather models and a step up in production. The September contract, which rolls off the board later this week, settled at $3.945, up 9.4 cents on the day. October also picked up 9.4 cents…

The La Niña pattern that settled over the United States last month stands to prop up gas demand this winter if the chilly forecast for the northern states holds true. However, in an era in which Lower 48 demand is now largely influenced by dynamics overseas, the current lack of signaling for a cold winter…