Markets

Physical natural gas trading for Friday delivery took a backseat to more exuberant futures activity on Thursday. Moderate temperatures kept a lid on physical prices, but futures raced higher, led by a series of government reports indicating not only improved pricing but a thinner addition to storage inventories than the market expected.

Houston-based Ranger Energy Services LLC agreed Wednesday to acquire privately held Bayou Workover Services LLC, a combination that would expand the customer base and its offerings in the U.S. onshore workover services market.

With an eye toward winter weather, natural gas price volatility is likely to return in 2017, given the prospect for potential capacity constraints and ever-larger exports to Mexico to support gas-fired generation, according to ConocoPhillips’ Jim Duncan, who directs commodity market research.

Denver-based Extraction Oil & Gas LLC, the first U.S. exploration and production company to go public in two years, climbed 15% in its debut on Nasdaq Wednesday after pricing above expectations.

Physical natural gas for Thursday delivery on average gained ground in trading Wednesday, but declines in the Rockies and California had to be offset by healthy advances at New England points. The NGI National Spot Gas Average gained 4 cents to $2.73, but futures found the going more arduous.

November natural gas is set to open 3 cents lower Wednesday morning at $3.21 as traders start to tally what looks to be a sub-par level of heating demand in the near term. Overnight oil markets inched higher.

November natural gas is set to open 3 cents lower Tuesday morning as traders see a market overextended to the upside given current fundamental factors. Overnight oil markets retreated.

Next-day natural gas at major market centers crept higher in Tuesday’s trading, with double-digit gains at New England points able to offset broader losses of a few pennies at producing regions and double-digit hits at Mid-Atlantic locations.

November natural gas is expected to open a penny lower Monday morning at $3.18 as traders factor in less than normal heating and cooling loads, and technicians see natural gas as having completed a five-wave advance. Overnight oil markets were mixed.