NGI Data

On a day when Middle East tensions roiled oil markets and dominated energy headlines, natural gas futures turned in a quiet session Friday, with continued warmth in the forecast leaving prices range-bound heading into the weekend. The February Nymex contract settled at $2.130/MMBtu, up 0.8 cents. March added 1.9 cents to settle at $2.112.

The start of a new year and a new decade brought the same underwhelming winter weather that kept the pressure on natural gas prices to close out 2019; heavy discounts along the East and West coasts during the trading week ended Jan. 3 droppedNGI’s Weekly Spot GasNational Avg.11.5 cents to $1.970/MMBtu.

With January projected to be one of the Top-10 warmest on record, the double-digit decreases inbidweekprices reflect just how much things can change in a year.NGI’sJanuaryBidweekNational Avg.dropped 26.0 cents to $2.565.

Although eager to put 2019 in the rearview mirror, natural gas bulls managed to close out the year on a slightly positive note, sending futures a few ticks higher during the final trading session of the decade. The February Nymex gas futures contract settled Tuesday at $2.189/MMBtu, up three-tenths of a cent from Monday’s close. March rose just .001 cents to $2.158.

After struggling to hold their head above water, natural gas futures sank Monday as sustained cold weather remained absent from long-range forecasts. The February Nymex gas futures contract, in its first day in the prompt-month position, settled at $2.186/MMBtu, down 4.5 cents from Friday’s close. March slipped 1.6 cents to $2.157.

For the second week in a row, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) surprised the natural gas market with a much larger-than-expected storage withdrawal, reporting a massive 161 Bcf pull from inventories for the week ending Dec. 20.

Weather models remained at the forefront of natural gas trading Friday, with futures quickly reversing the previous day’s gains as overnight data trended warmer. With volumes remaining light after the Christmas holiday, the January Nymex gas futures contract expired 13.6 cents lower day/day at $2.158/MMBtu. February, which takes the prompt position on Monday, settled at $2.231, down 5.4 cents.

Unseasonably warm weather combined with weak holiday demand to drive natural gas prices much lower for the Dec. 23-27 week. Driven by a substantial sell-off in the Northeast, and notable declines in West Texas, the NGI Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. plunged 84.5 cents to $2.085.

Continued weakness in the outlook for weather-driven demand into early 2020 extended declines in the natural gas futures market Tuesday. The January Nymex contract dropped 4.2 cents to settle at $2.172/MMBtu. February eased 3.0 cents to $2.187.