Traders

January natural gas advanced Thursday as traders anticipating a further increase in gas storage had to scramble to cover short positions when the government announced an inventory decline. January gained 9.8 cents to $3.648, and February posted a gain of 9.7 cents to $3.675. January crude oil slipped 16 cents to $100.20/bbl.

Following rather moderate Thanksgiving weekend weather in most regions, traders returned to their offices Monday to face much more winter-befitting forecasts going into December. That, along with a modest futures advance on the preceding Wednesday and the return of industrial load from holiday hiatus, propelled a solid majority of the cash market to substantial gains.

December natural gas settled modestly higher Tuesday as traders prepared for a double whammy in the form of a government inventory report and options expiration Wednesday. In addition, December futures expire Monday following an extended holiday period. At the end of the day December had added 1.6 cents to $3.415 and January had tacked on 0.3 cent to $3.561. January crude oil added $1.09 to $98.01.

Traders longing for the days of wide natural gas basis spreads can look to natural gas liquids (NGL) and crude oil to get their arbitrage fix, according to Bentek Energy LLC.

Traders longing for the days of wide natural gas basis spreads can look to natural gas liquids (NGL) and crude oil to get their arbitrage fix, according to Bentek Energy LLC.

November natural gas advanced Tuesday as traders suggest that the market is close to breaking out of its current directionless malaise and move higher. At the close November had gained 5.4 cents to $3.658 and December was up by 5.8 cents to $3.852. December crude oil gained $1.90 to $93.17/bbl.

November natural gas gained in lackluster trading Wednesday as traders were surprised at the move given the big storage injection figure expected Thursday. At the close November was up 3.3 cents to $3.586 and December had added 2.5 cents to $3.813. November crude oil tumbled $2.23 to $86.11/bbl.

November natural gas posted a double-digit loss Tuesday as traders cited the relentless increase in production and lack of demand growth as continuing to thwart any price advance. At the end of the day November had fallen 13.5 cents to $3.553 and December had shed 11.5 cents to $3.788. November crude oil rose $1.96 to $88.34/bbl.

November natural gas staged a furious end-of-week rally Friday as traders factored in cooler weather and holders of short positions may have figured that the outlook couldn’t get much better and decided to cover. November jumped 17.2 cents to $3.703 and December rose 14.6 cents to $3.960. November crude oil surged $2.57 to $86.42/bbl.