Wednesday

April natural gas is expected to open 2 cents lower Wednesday morning at $2.71 as traders assess a non-directional technical environment and active near-term weather. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Natural gas forwards markets appeared to be taking a breather this week, with most market hubs shifting less than a nickel from Monday to Wednesday, amid some see-sawing in Nymex futures and uncertainty in long-range weather forecasts.

Physical natural gas traded Monday for Tuesday delivery overall shot higher by an average 13 cents. All but a handful of points were solidly in the black and most locations posted double-digit gains. East, Northeast and Midwest locations were all strong. At the close of futures trading, November had added 4.4 cents to $3.820 and December was up by 3.7 cents to $3.966. November crude oil added 39 cents to $102.41/bbl.

Physical prices rose for a second consecutive day, while futures climbed higher for a third day.

Natural gas prices for Wednesday delivery overall averaged 4 cents lower in Tuesday’s trading. Nearly all points posted modest declines, and at eastern points, soft power pricing gave traders little incentive to make aggressive next-day gas buys.

Natural gas prices for Wednesday physical delivery overall averaged a penny lower Tuesday despite some significant individual point gains in the Marcellus Shale. Elsewhere, most gains and losses were more or less equally dispersed, with most points trading a nickel on either side of unchanged.

The physical natural gas market continued its trek lower losing 4 cents on average overall Wednesday. Losses were close to a nickel in the Midwest, about 3 cents in the Midcontinent and about a nickel lower at most major market centers. At the close of futures trading September had posted a new five-month low closing at $3.247, down 7.1 cents on the day. October also dropped 7.1 cents to $3.272. September crude oil fell 93 cents to $104.37/bbl.

The natural gas cash market added 2 cents on average overall Tuesday for Wednesday delivery with small gains and small losses at most points characterizing the day’s trading. Midwest points were mixed as weather outlooks held to seasonal norms, and Gulf points were a few pennies higher. At the close of lackluster futures trading September had drifted lower by 0.1 cent to $3.318 and October had eased 0.3 cent to $3.343. September crude oil dropped $1.26 to $105.30/bbl.

Permian Basin-focused Energen Resources Corp., said Wednesday its first well to test the upper Wolfcamp Shale in the Midland Basin and three upper Wolfcamp wells in the Delaware Basin have shown “excellent results.”