Winter

December natural gas is set to open unchanged Monday morning at $2.96 as weather forecasts hint at cooling to come, but show no immediately pervasive trends beyond the current warm-dominated patterns. Overnight oil markets inched higher.

With long-term weather forecasts pointing to possibly another warm winter ahead, natural gas forward markets fell an average 12 cents between Oct. 13 and 19, according to NGI’s Forward Look.

November natural gas is expected to open 8 cents lower Monday morning at $2.92 as overnight weather models called for decreased heating load. Overnight oil markets rose.

November natural gas is set to open unchanged Thursday morning at $2.94 as traders factor in expected lean storage figures into the supply-demand balance. Overnight oil markets rose.

Not even a larger-than-expected withdrawal from storage was enough to soften the blow of a more than 20-cent drop in March natural gas forwards prices as the main focus remains on weather, or the lack thereof.

Not even a larger-than-expected withdrawal from storage was enough to soften the blow of a more than 20-cent drop in March natural gas forwards prices as the main focus remains on weather, or the lack thereof.

If anyone in the natural gas market thought the week leading up to Christmas was going to be a quiet one, they were wrong. Nymex January futures set the tone for a volatile week, plunging more than 10 cents early on, but then spiking nearly 30 cents the very next day. The Nymex January futures contract ultimately gained 12.5 cents between Dec. 16 and 21 to settle at $3.54 amid prospects for returning cold for the beginning of January and a solid 200+ draw from storage.

For the third week in a row, natural gas forwards markets surged by double-digits as much of the U.S. was experiencing bitterly frigid temperatures. And talk of a Polar Vortex in the upcoming week had the market shivering in its snowboots, according to NGI’s Forward Look.

Gains of 30 cents or more were the norm for most natural gas forwards markets for the period between Nov. 23 and Dec. 1 as the string of weather systems bringing cooler-than-normal temperatures continues to sweep across the U.S., according to NGI’sForward Look.