Unsupportive

February natural gas was tackled for a loss Tuesday as traders recited the same causative factors of unsupportive weather and a storage surplus that refuses to stop growing. At the close February had given up 18.2 cents to $2.488, which is the lowest front-month settlement since March 5, 2002.

July natural gas eased slightly Monday as traders cited weak technicals, and near term weather forecasts are unsupportive. At the close July had fallen eight-tenths of a penny to $4.317 and August was down eight-tenths of a penny to $4.352. July crude oil rose 25 cents to $93.26/bbl.

November natural gas futures continued their downward march Monday as traders focused on unsupportive weather conditions and expectations of another hefty shoulder-season addition to inventories. At the close November posted a 10.4 cent loss to $3.431 and December shed 5.5 cents to $3.870.

Modest gains dominated the cash market Monday, even though warm to moderate forecasts in most areas were mostly unsupportive of price bullishness. However, a minor 3.2-cent uptick by September futures on the preceding Friday did help.

Influenced by yet another day of economic concerns and unsupportive weather forecasts, February natural gas futures continued to explore lower price levels on Wednesday, reaching a low of $7.585 before closing out the session at $7.621, down 4.9 cents from Tuesday. While the decline was a far cry from Tuesday’s 32.3-cent massacre, traders are still hard-pressed to locate any supportive fundamentals.

With its traders still feeling the effects of Thursday’s unsupportive storage report, the natural gas futures market sifted lower Friday afternoon to conclude a relatively quiet week. The March contract completed the session at $6.096, down 5.3 cents for the session and 16.3 cents for the week.