Regular

In their first regular session as prompt month, April natural gas futures accomplished something the March contract failed to do its entire run at the front, which is break convincingly below entrenched support around the psychological $7.00 area. The prompt month ended up settling 52.4 cents lower than Friday at $6.789, setting a nine-month low. The July 2005 contract settled exactly at $6.789 on June 1, 2005.

After trading significantly higher in the overnight Access session, March natural gas began regular trading on Friday at $7.330. However, bearish fundamentals and concerns about the validity of cold weather forecasts allowed the prompt month to come off during the pre-holiday shortened trading session, leaving March to close at $7.182, up 4.8 cents on the day, but down 13.4 cents from the previous Friday.

March natural gas broke its streak of eight consecutive regular sessions lower on Thursday, testing the $7 level again before rallying higher to close at $7.134, up 6.8 cents on the day. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday that 102 Bcf was withdrawn from underground stores for the week ended Feb. 10. The number, which was closer to historical analogs than other recent weekly withdrawals, was still short of the industry’s expectations.

After starting Wednesday’s regular session significantly higher than Tuesday’s close, March natural gas turned south just after 11 a.m. EST, ultimately testing psychological support at $7 before settling at $7.066, down 4.8 cents.

Settling lower for the fifth consecutive regular session, March natural gas futures on Friday brushed off winter storm concerns for the weekend en route to carving out a new low for the move at $7.250. The prompt month finished the week at $7.316, down 16.3 cents from Thursday but an astounding $1.297 lower than the contract’s close in the prior week.

March natural gas futures spent much of Wednesday’s session climbing higher, only to collapse in the final hour of regular session trading. The prompt-month contract hit a high of $8.120 before sinking lower to test the $7.700 low for a second consecutive session. Ultimately, March natural gas closed at $7.735, down 12.3 cents on the day.

Taking the reins of prompt month in their first regular session Monday, March natural gas futures — aided by a chilly outlook from the National Weather Service and supportive trading in crude — jumped 88.2 cents higher on the day to close at $9.389.

February natural gas futures worked lower in the overnight Access trading session to open at $10.285 and continued the down move in Wednesday’s regular session. The contract reached a low of $10.030, technically erasing the original Hurricane Katrina gap on the perpetual chart from Aug. 26 to Aug. 29, which spanned $10.075 to $10.650. February natural gas staged a small rebound in the afternoon to settle at $10.197, down 42.9 cents on the day.

After gapping higher in Access trading to open Monday’s regular session at $14.900, January natural gas futures spent the rest of the afternoon between $14.470 and $14.930 before settling at $14.841, up 52.9 cents on the session.