Markets

On balance weekly natgas trading was a subdued affair, but you would be hard pressed to convince traders working the Rockies, California, or Southeast markets as the Rockies and California experienced double-digit gains and the Southeast endured average losses of nearly 30 cents.

August natural gas is set to open 2 cents higher Thursday morning at $2.76 as traders await storage stats that are expected to confirm the ever-decreasing short- and long-term storage surpluses. Overnight oil markets rose.

Natural gas futures advanced Thursday morning after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a storage injection that was somewhat greater than what had been estimated.

The amount of natural gas traded in the United States increased in 2015 for the first time in four years, with overall trading volumes up 4.1% compared to 2014, according to an analysis of FERC Form 552 submissions by Cornerstone Research.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects natural gas-fired power generation to set a record this year, providing an average of 3.8 million megawatt hours per day, a 4% increase from 2015.

California regulators on Thursday nixed a proposed pipeline project that was intended to support the southern gas distribution system of Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas). The ongoing shut-in of the Aliso Canyon storage field diminished the value of such a project, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said.

Most traders elected to get deals done prior to the release of government storage figures Thursday, and next-day natural gas drifted lower.

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) has recommended that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) tweak a proposed supplement to its position limits rule, after identifying three specific areas of concern.

The price spotlight Wednesday was on New York, both upstate and downstate, as sultry heat was forecast to envelope the eastern portion of the state. Gas for next-day delivery added a few pennies to a nickel in Texas, the Midwest, Midcontinent and Louisiana, but deliveries to the East, and New York in particular, posted gains of more than 20 cents. The NGI National Spot Gas Average rose 6 cents to $2.59.