NGI Data

Physical gas for weekend and Monday delivery fell like a rock in Friday’s trading. Market points across the board were lower, in some cases by deep double digits, with the East and Northeast taking on the brunt of the selling.

Trading for the week ended June 27 may be something of a watershed for the bulls, with hefty declines in both physical and futures pricing auguring a shift to a lower pricing regime and those campaigning for higher prices based on a large storage deficit throwing in the towel.

Natural gas futures Thursday morning continued the recent tradition of outsize market moves off modest storage injection misses by industry forecasters.

Friday deliveries of natural gas headed sharply lower in Thursday’s trading at virtually all market points as traders made sure they got their deals done prior to the release of government storage data.

Physical gas for delivery Thursday made it three straight days of gains in Wednesday’s trading, with the largest advances at Mid-Atlantic and New England locations. Appalachia also firmed, as did prices in the Gulf, and overall the market was 18 cents higher. Healthy gains in next-day power prices, along with higher loads, also contributed to support next-day gas prices. At the close of futures trading, July had advanced 1.8 cents to $4.553 and August was higher by 1.3 cents to $4.569. August crude oil rose 47 cents to $106.50/bbl.

The United States will achieve energy independence within the next 15 years and possibly as soon as 2020, senior global energy executives said in a new survey by KPMG Global Energy Institute.

Physical gas for Wednesday delivery gained ground in Tuesday’s trading with advances across both market centers and producing regions. Largest advances were seen in the Northeast and East as forecasters called for warm temperatures and oppressive humidity.

U.S. natural gas storage remains dominated by the lingering effects of an extremely cold winter, but it’s on track for record summer storage, Credit Suisse analysts said Monday.

Cooler-than-normal temperatures are expected to persist across much of the country for the remainder of the summer months, with above-normal heat expected to linger in a handful of Southeast and western states, according to forecasters at Weather Services International (WSI).