Permian Basin

Natural gas futures struggled to find direction on Friday, trading in a narrow range of gains and losses throughout the session. Favorable near-term weather forecasts and continued light production estimates were countered by export weakness and only modest improvement in supply/demand balances evidenced in the latest government inventory data. At A Glance: Output near 98…

The U.S. natural gas rig count slid to 106 for the week ending Friday (April 19), down three rigs from the week prior and down 53 rigs year/year, according to the latest tally from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Co. (BKR). The addition of five rigs in the oil patch lifted the combined U.S. rig…

Lofty levels of natural gas in storage and a severe Permian Basin supply glut continued to cloud the outlook for prices. Natural gas forward prices fell in every region during the April 11-17 trading period, NGI’s Forward Look data show. Levels remained well below the $2.00/MMBtu level across the Lower 48, with exceptionally weak West…

With the market weighing mild shoulder season weather and bloated storage against weaker production, regional natural gas forward prices generally held steady at the front of the curve during the April 4-10 trading period. Fixed prices at benchmark Henry Hub finished the period at $1.888/MMBtu for May delivery, up 4.3 cents week/week, according to NGI’s…

APA Corp. said Wednesday it curtailed about 35 MMcf/d of U.S. natural gas production during the first quarter, mostly during March. The curtailment was “in response to weak or negative Waha hub prices.” Waha is the hub of record for the Permian Basin, which spans West Texas and portions of southeastern New Mexico. Waha prices…

Stout storage levels at the start of the weak spring demand season kept baseload natural gas prices for April under pressure in bidweek trading Tuesday, according to NGI’s Bidweek Alert (BWA). Overall trade slowed from Monday on the third and last day of bidweek trading for April baseload flows, with the Midwest and Appalachia leading…

West Texas natural gas cash prices remain mired in negative territory amid weak weather-driven demand and a massive supply overhang. Waha cash prices on Monday ticked up a half-cent but still averaged negative 69.5 cents/MMBtu, according to NGI data. The West Texas benchmark has mostly hovered in the red since early March. El Paso Permian…

Natural gas forward prices pushed modestly higher at the front of the curve during the March 14-20 trading period, particularly in the Northeast and Appalachia, data from NGI’s Forward Look show. Meanwhile, spring contracts at hubs near the congested Permian Basin struggled under the weight of weak near-term fundamentals. Fixed prices for April delivery at…

Natural gas futures remained lower through midday trading Thursday as the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report underwhelmed, confirming further expansion of an already sizable Lower 48 inventory surplus. Meanwhile, some late-season chills for northern portions of the country failed to prevent falling physical prices. Here’s the latest: April Nymex contract trading at…