Markets

January natural gas is set to open 4 cents lower Tuesday morning at $2.03 as traders study forecasts calling for mild temperatures in eastern and Midwest markets out to Christmas. Overnight oil markets continued to weaken.

The tale of two markets Tuesday reversed itself from Monday, with physical natural gas taking some hard punches and futures holding steady at least for the moment.

January natural gas is set to open 6 cents lower Monday morning at $2.13 as traders see no redeeming weather features on the horizon and overnight oil markets plunged.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday issued an order against Total Gas & Power North America (TGPNA) and one of its West Desk traders bringing and settling charges for attempted manipulation of natural gas monthly index settlement prices during bidweeks at four major trading hubs in Texas and elsewhere in the Southwest.

It was a tale of two markets Monday, as physical gas for Tuesday delivery for the most part held its ground, but natural gas futures took it on the chin under continued weather forecasts showing mild temperatures into the latter half of December and cascading crude and products prices.

January natural gas is expected to open unchanged Friday morning at $2.18 as traders see a market precariously holding on to current price levels. Overnight oil markets rose.

More than three-quarters of the companies participating in NGI’s 3Q2015 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking, including heavyweights like BP plc, Shell Energy NA and ConocoPhillips, reported lower sales transaction numbers in the third quarter than they did in the same period last year, as they continue to wait for depressed commodities prices to right themselves.

Three days after Moody’s Investors Service changed its outlook on Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) debt to “negative” from “stable,” the company said it “…will construct its 2016 plan to maintain an investment grade rating with all three [credit rating] agencies.”

In spite of the fact the calendar says this is the high-demand period for natural gas, physical traders for weekend and Monday delivery elected to pass on three-day deals and instead rely on the ease of electronic communications to make incremental purchases should the need arise.