Markets

May natural gas is set to open 4 cents lower Friday morning at $3.29 as traders question just how much more upside the market has left in it given currently ample storage. Overnight oil markets rose.

Natural gas deliveries to power plants in the PJM Interconnection have dropped by around 1.3 Bcf/d over the last two weeks due to spring maintenance outages, according to natural gas analytics firm Genscape.

The number and volume of natural gas transactions — according to FERC Form 552 submissions from up to 680 respondents — were in decline during 2008 to 2014 and flattened in 2015. However, that trend has improved somewhat in 2016, executives with two price reporting agencies (PRA) said in Houston on Tuesday.

Takers for weekend and Monday physical gas deliveries were few and far between in Friday’s trading as weather forecasts proved moderate and Monday energy usage was expected to be less than Friday’s.

There was no question who was on top of weekly natural gas trading for the week ended April 7. Bulls and bears drew to a standoff the week before, but this time around theNGI Weekly National Spot Gas Average put in a solid advance of 18 cents to $3.03.

Shifting priorities of energy executives worldwide are putting more impetus on a lower-carbon future, while oil and natural gas price volatility remains the No. 1 “critical” uncertainty, according to the World Energy Council.

A potential El Nino event — warmer-than-normal water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator — is likely to limit the production of tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean this year, resulting in below-average hurricane activity, according to a pair of prominent weather forecasters.

Most natural gas traders laid low Thursday and got their deals done ahead of the release of often volatility-inducing inventory figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). It was a mixed market with gains in the Northeast and Appalachia unable to offset broader losses in the Midwest, Midcontinent, Rockies, and California.

May natural gas is expected to open 2 cents lower Thursday morning at $3.25 as the market looks ahead to the first storage build of the season and traders are split on near-term market direction. Overnight oil markets were mixed.