Bidweek

It may be too early to pop the champagne corks, but happier days look to be here again, at least for producers, as July bidweek indexes were up nearly $1 at many locations.

Following the precipitous fall in March bidweek quotes, April and May bidweek managed healthy gains, with April rising 8 cents and May up 14 cents. The third time was not a charm, however, as the June NGI National Bidweek Average fell from May, albeit slightly, by 2 cents to $1.80, which also represents a 75-cent drop from the June 2015 bidweek average.

The Bidweek price landscape was able to continue the improvements seen in April Bidweek, and all but a handful of points recorded gains for May. Neither month appeared to be living up to its billing as a fall-off shoulder month. TheNGI National Bidweek Average for May rose a healthy 14 cents from April to $1.82, with Rocky Mountain and California points well into double-digit gains.

The Bidweek price landscape was able to continue the improvements seen in April Bidweek, and all but a handful of points recorded gains for May. Neither month appeared to be living up to its billing as a fall-off shoulder month. TheNGI National Bidweek Average for May rose a healthy 14 cents from April to $1.82, with Rocky Mountain and California points well into double-digit gains.

Natural gas bidweek players were able to breathe something of a sigh of relief that the devastating experience of March Bidweek was not repeated for the month of April. March saw most points nationally losing about a half-dollar, or more and NGI March National Bidweek Average came in at a lean $1.60. NGI’s April National Bidweek Average rose 8 cents to $1.68 amid trading and deal-making characterized as more or less routine.

If February bidweek was disappointing, March bidweek was a disaster. February bidweek saw the NGI National Bidweek Average fall 23 cents to $2.23 and some points traded positive. No such luck for March. No points followed by NGI came anywhere close to being in the black and most points lost about a half-dollar, or more. The NGI March National Bidweek Average fell a gut-wrenching 63 cents from February 2016 to $1.60, which is also $1.50 below the March 2015 bidweek average.

February natural gas bidweek prices slumped as buyers were confronted with medium-term temperature forecasts calling for mild temperatures east of the Mississippi. As a result, NGI’s National Bidweek Average fell a stout 23 cents to $2.23, and only a handful of points in the Northeast, Rocky Mountains and West Texas made it to the plus column.

A late December push of winter cold into the eastern half of the United States was all it took to energize bidweek buyers and draw the market out of a mild-weather morass. The NGI January National Bidweek Average posted a stout double-digit gain of 19 cents to $2.46, and although a few individual market points in the Northeast, West Texas and the Rockies failed to participate in the advance, all regions of the country were able to record gains.

The release of record storage data during December bidweek proved no help to buyers anticipating softer bidweek pricing resulting from burdensome inventories. The NGI National Bidweek Average rose a stout 20 cents to $2.27 and all but a few market points recorded gains of a dime or more.