Buoyed by another spectacular session of crude oil trading, the September natural gas futures contract inched 5.1 cents higher Thursday to $5.712 as an early attack from the bears was thwarted by consistent, end-use buying support, according to brokers. The storage report, featuring an 83 Bcf injection, was seen as mostly a neutral event.
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Bullish Crude Oil Market Trumps Bearish Storage Expectations as Market Mover Monday
Buoyed by a new, 11-month high in the nearby crude oil market, the natural gas futures market shrugged off early weakness Monday to notch double-digit advances for the session. The April natural gas contract finished 13.4 cents stronger at $5.550, the highest prompt month closing price in nearly a month.
Sempra, BP Ink Deal for Indonesian LNG to Supply Planned Mexican Terminal
Sempra Energy LNG inked a letter of intent with BPMigas, Indonesia’s executive agency for oil and gas, and BP Indonesia Thursday to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Indonesia to be delivered to its planned terminal in North Baja California, Mexico. Top government energy officials from Mexico, Indonesia and the U.S. endorsed the agreement which was signed near the end of the two-day LNG Ministerial Summit in Washington, DC, last week.
Bearish Storage Trumps Storm as Market-Mover Friday
Despite forecasts Friday suggesting that a category one hurricane may be spinning in the Gulf of Mexico by Monday, natural gas futures shuffled lower ahead of the weekend in sympathy with the short-term trend and following bearish supply data released on Thursday. At $5.154, August was down 10.4 cents for the session and notched its lowest settlement price since April. At 59,899 contracts, estimated volume was weak, indicating that many traders were taking a wait-and-see approach to Tropical Storm Claudette.
Profit-Taking Trumps Weather as Key Market-Mover Friday
After holding in the $5.20s for much of the session Friday, the February natural gas futures contract was flushed lower in the final 30 minutes of trading as short-term traders — fearing revised (warmer) forecasts Monday — liquidated their long holdings. The prompt month finished the week at $5.143, down 16.1 cents for the day and 20.1 cents for the week.
Bullish Weather Bests Storage as Market Mover; Technicals Remains Key
After dropping lower and then spiking higher in its typical post-storage report theatrics, natural gas futures came back to near unchanged Thursday morning, prompting bulls and bears to turn to something other than storage for their next price clues. Without having to search too far, they found favorable medium and long-lead weather forecasts, which quickly translated into higher natural gas futures prices. August closed 10.2 cents higher for the session at $2.943.
Bullish Weather Bests Storage as Market Mover; Technicals Remains Key
After dropping lower and then spiking higher in its typical post-storage report theatrics, natural gas futures came back to near unchanged Thursday morning, prompting bulls and bears to turn to something other than storage for their next price clues. Without having to search too far, they found favorable medium and long-lead weather forecasts, which quickly translated into higher natural gas futures prices. August closed 10.2 cents higher for the session at $2.943.
Storage Supplants Weather as Market Mover; Sends Futures Lower
In a session strikingly similar to last Friday, natural gas futures opened higher, only to shuffle lower throughout the morning Tuesday as traders elected to look past the hottest temperatures yet this summer to focus on the likelihood of bearish storage news to be released this afternoon. After gapping higher at the open, the September contract was unable to attract much in the way of follow-through buying. As a result, the prompt month tumbled 5.6 cents lower yesterday to take back gains achieved Monday and to close even with Friday’s settle at $2.971.
Hot Weather Supplants Storage Concerns as Market-Mover Tuesday
Buoyed by two distinct buying surges, natural gas futures shuffled higher Tuesday as commercial futures traders reacted to rising temperatures across most areas of the country and strong demand in the nearby physical market. While losses Monday were spread out almost equally across the entire natural gas strip, Tuesday’s gains were front-loaded with the August contract receiving a 12.9-cent boost to $3.282. By comparison, the 12-month strip advanced just 9.6 cents to close at $3.715.
Bullish Weather Trumps Storage Concerns as Market Mover
Natural gas futures were stronger at the open and close yesterday as traders priced in the impact of the first real blast of hot weather across central portions of the country. Nearly gapping higher with its $4.36 opening trade, the June contract sifted slightly lower for much of the day before rebounding convincingly at the closing bell. In doing so the prompt contract not only closed 11.6 cents higher at $4.394, but also managed to fill in the chart gap up to $4.44 on the daily prompt chart.