NGI Mexico GPI

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.

Mexico’s IPGN monthly natural gas price index averaged $3.15/MMBtu in November, down from $4.60/MMBtu during the same month a year ago.

Forecast maps red with warmer-than-normal temperatures threatened to make it a “Blue Christmas” for natural gas futures bulls Monday. The January Nymex contract skidded 11.4 cents to settle at $2.214/MMBtu as the latest guidance showed mild December weather stretching well into the first week of 2020.

Canada’s TC Energy Corp. is planning additional natural gas capacity at the U.S.-Mexico border to increase deliveries to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

Tighter balances and signs of colder temperatures returning by the first week of January helped bolster natural gas futures prices Friday. After trading as high as $2.345/MMBtu, the January contract went on to settle at $2.328, up 5.5 cents day/day. February picked up 4.5 cents to settle at $2.310.

Mexico’s natural gas production averaged 3.95 Bcf/d in November, up from 3.65 Bcf/d in the same month a year ago, according to upstream regulator Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH).

Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico natural gas market reform, is offering the following column as part of a regular series on understanding this process, written by Eduardo Prud’homme.

A much larger-than-expected storage withdrawal trimmed steeper losses for natural gas futures on Thursday. However, with an increasingly unsupportive weather outlook through the early part of 2020, the January Nymex contract settled at $2.273/MMBtu, down 1.3 cents from Wednesday’s close. February finished the day one-tenth of a cent higher at $2.265.

Mexico’s national pipeline operator Centro Nacional de Control del Gas Natural (Cenagas) has opened bidding for the supply of natural gas to ensure the Sistrangas pipeline system maintains system balance.