NGI Data

Natural gas futures fell following the release of government storage figures that were bit on the high side of what the market was expecting.

July natural gas is set to open 2 cents lower Wednesday morning at $4.61 as traders factor in a moderate Atlantic tropical storm season along with a possible cooler June August temperature outlook. Overnight oil markets rose.

After a couple days of strong advances, the streak came to an end on Wednesday as values for physical natural gas for Thursday delivery slumped nearly across the board, from a few pennies to a nickel in most regions, to as much as 20-plus cents at a handful of Northeast locations. One standout in the black was Algonquin Citygates, which has been especially volatile recently due to ongoing capacity constraints.

July natural gas is expected to open 2 cents higher Tuesday morning at $4.63 as traders balance near-term weather and a healthy cash market with an expected plump storage injection in Thursday’s inventory report. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Spot natural gas prices for Wednesday delivery posted another strong day of advances as below-normal temperatures across northern-tier market points contrasted with above normal readings in metropolitan areas further south. Gains were seen across the board with only thinly traded market point seeing a loss.

Spot natural gas prices were able to post double-digit gains in Monday’s trading as near-term temperature forecasts called for above-normal temperatures and cast doubt about continuing hefty additions to storage.

With futures prices stuck in a range, and weather forecasts uninspiring, bidweek traders didn’t have a lot to go on to make their June trades. Utilities, as always, were making sure their bidweek purchases aligned with their need to refill storage, but marketers needing to ensure their customers get the lowest cost gas possible were faced with a different set of challenges. Nationally theNGIBidweek Average Price for June fell 36 cents from May to $4.12. Most individual pointslost about 20 cents and only a few locations made it into positive territory. The Northeast saw the greatest swings, and of the actively traded points June bidweek at the Algonquin Citygates jumped 98 cents to average $5.58 and Tennessee Zone 4 Marcellus dropped $1.01 to average $2.41. All regions declined.

Physical gas for Sunday and Monday delivery slumped Friday as weather conditions for the most part were expected to be benign and traders were reluctant to make purchases of gas that might become burdensome and have to be resold.

It was a stretch of solid, yeoman-like advances in gas prices for the three-day week ended May 29. TheNGIWeekly National Spot Gas Average recorded a gain of 9 cents to $4.30. Only two points fell onto the loss side of the trading ledger and all regions posted gains ranging from a few pennies to well over a dime. Greatest gains were seen on Tennessee Zone 6 200 L with a rise of 44 cents to average $4.13, while the largest loss was just 3 cents on Florida Gas Zone 2 to $4.43.