Markets

January natural gas is expected to open 4 cents lower Tuesday morning at $1.85 as forecasters scouring recent weather data discover another episode of moderating temperatures. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Physical natural gas for Wednesday delivery, on average, gained ground in Tuesday’s trading as supportive power prices and forecasts of increased power demand provided a firm foundation to make power generation purchases.

January natural gas is set to open 12 cents lower Monday morning at $1.87 as weather models over the weekend turned much more moderate. Overnight oil markets plunged as well. Equity markets, in turn, are expected lower.

Physical gas for Tuesday delivery carried on with the kind of losses incurred in Friday for weekend trading, despite near-term temperature forecasts at eastern points expected to take a drop by midweek. Some eastern points were significantly higher, but the NGI National Spot Gas Average fell 6 cents to $1.64.

California’s oil/natural gas supervisor late Thursday issued a second emergency order aimed at getting faster gas capture and additional data on the seven-week-old underground storage well leak from Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon facility on the northern edge of a Los Angeles suburb.

January natural gas prices in the U.S. Northeast shed as much as 61 cents for the period between Dec. 4 and 10 as forecasts continue to be more reflective of spring temperatures than winter.

Natural gas for weekend and Monday delivery traded sharply lower Friday as traders saw little need to commit to three-day deals, and at the same time weather forecasts in major metropolitan markets called for temperatures to flirt with record highs.

January natural gas is expected to open 5 cents lower Friday morning at $1.96 as the persistent drumbeat of mild temperature forecasts continues to overwhelm fundamental market shifts. Overnight oil markets fell.

January natural gas is expected to open unchanged Thursday morning at $2.06 ahead of a government storage report that is expected to show gas usage right at long-term norms. Overnight oil markets were mixed.