Markets

Sempra Energy on Thursday said it has reached an agreement to sell some U.S. natural gas storage facilities to private equity investor ArcLight Capital Partners LLC for $332 million.

The downward trajectory of natural gas continued during the Dec. 27-Jan. 2 period as Old Man Winter remained elusive following an early season appearance, significantly easing concerns about low storage inventories. February forward prices tumbled an average 73 cents, while March dropped an average 53 cents, according to NGI’s Forward Look.

Forecasts showing overall mild conditions through mid-January continued to pressure natural gas futures lower Thursday as traders looked ahead to another potentially bearish government storage report. In the spot market, expectations for Lower 48 weather-driven demand to ease into next week accompanied declines across most regions; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. slid 11.5 cents to $2.690/MMBtu.

Forecasts showing overall mild conditions through mid-January continued to pressure natural gas futures lower Thursday as traders looked ahead to another potentially bearish government storage report. In the spot market, expectations for Lower 48 weather-driven demand to ease into next week accompanied declines across most regions; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. slid 11.5 cents to $2.690/MMBtu.

Although Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said relatively little about natural gas policy, he has made clear his opposition to the 2013 constitutional energy reform of his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto.

A new year brought a new outlook for natural gas markets Wednesday, with a mild forecast for the first half of January bringing a return to sub-$3 prices as the storage concerns that drove up risk premiums earlier in the heating season appear largely assuaged. Influenced by sagging futures, spot markets struggled through a post-New Year’s hangover, though a few locations in the West gained ahead of cold temperatures and precipitation expected this weekend; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. tumbled 26.5 cents to $2.915/MMBtu.

A new year brought a new outlook for natural gas markets Wednesday, with a mild forecast for the first half of January bringing a return to sub-$3 prices as the storage concerns that drove up risk premiums earlier in the heating season appear largely assuaged. Influenced by sagging futures, spot markets struggled through a post-New Year’s hangover, though a few locations in the West gained ahead of cold temperatures and precipitation expected this weekend; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. tumbled 26.5 cents to $2.915/MMBtu.

Despite warmth expected to linger through at least the middle of the month, February natural gas was set to open slightly higher Wednesday in a modest rebound after prices plunged below $3 on the last trading session of 2018. The Nymex February gas futures contract was trading at around $2.947, up seven-tenths of a cent, just before 9 a.m. ET.

Abundant natural gas supply continues to pressure the thirst for coal, but coal demand still looks to have increased in 2018 for the second year in a row and remain stable over the next five years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).