Week

The U.S. rig count has been falling so fast in recent weeks it’s hard to keep up. On Feb. 5 the count was 571; then it dropped to 541 the following week before coming to rest a week later at the current tally of 514, according to Baker Hughes Inc.

March natural gas is set to open a penny higher Thursday morning at $2.06 before of an inventory report that is expected to show usage of about half normal levels. Overnight oil markets fell.

March natural gas is expected to open 3 cents lower Wednesday morning at $2.00 as most weather models can come up with no convincing pattern capable of significantly shifting the supply-demand balance. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

January natural gas is set to open 3 cents lower Tuesday morning at $1.88 as traders discount Monday’s rally and anticipate renewed selling pressure consistent with a weak weather outlook. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

December natural gas is expected to open 2 cents lower Thursday morning at $2.33 as traders have not only to deal with widely varying injection estimates but also recent Energy Information Administration (EIA) revisions to last week’s report. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

December natural gas is set to open 2 cents higher Friday morning at $2.38 as traders go back to their spreadsheets and ratchet down season-ending inventory expectations. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

For the second straight week, forwards markets moved lower for the period between Oct. 23 and Oct. 29 even after a bullish surprise storage report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Not even a less-than-expected storage fill was enough to move most natural gas forwards prices into the black for the week as market players remained fixated on the mild weather encompassing the majority of the country.

November natural gas is set to open flat Thursday morning at $2.40 as prices consolidate ahead of government inventory figures and early snow is in the forecast for higher elevations in the West. Overnight oil markets gained.