NGI Mexico GPI

Following a steep Black Friday sell-off driven by a warmer outlook for mid-December temperatures, natural gas futures were trading slightly higher early Monday, helped by cooler revisions in the latest data. The January Nymex contract was trading at $2.331/MMBtu at around 8:40 a.m. ET, up 5.0 cents from Friday but off nearly 20 cents from pre-Thanksgiving levels.

Mexican state power utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) is uniquely positioned to capitalize on a surplus of cheap natural gas in Texas but must do more to use its pipeline capacity, according to multiple experts on the burgeoning U.S.-Mexico energy trade.

Natural gas futures slouched into the front-month expiration Tuesday, unable to shake off the burden of a weakening outlook for weather-driven demand and indications of new record highs for production. The December Nymex contract rolled off the board at $2.470/MMBtu, off 6.1 cents. January settled just a few pennies above the $2.500 mark at $2.533, down 5.1 cents day/day.

Amid uncertainty over the progress of efforts to develop natural gas storage capacity in Mexico, Kinder Morgan Inc. will seek to offer storage solutions in the United States to mitigate system imbalances south of the border.

A milder-trending weather outlook Monday let the air out of a natural gas futures market struggling under the weight of oversupply. The December Nymex contract, set to expire Tuesday, plunged 13.4 cents to settle at $2.531/MMBtu. January settled at $2.584, down 12.6 cents, while February shed 11.4 cents to $2.541.

Mexico’s natural gas market continues to slowly advance towards an open and competitive business, the CEO of BP Energy Co. Orlando Alvarez said earlier this month at the U.S-Mexico Natural Gas Forum in San Antonio, TX.

Colder trends for early December sent natural gas futures rallying Friday. The December Nymex contract settled at $2.665/MMBtu Friday, up 9.8 cents. January settled 8.8 cents higher at $2.710.

Mexican national oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is behind schedule and unlikely to achieve its drilling and production goals at the flagship Ixachi gas and condensate field in Veracruz state, according to new analysis by Welligence Energy Analytics.

A larger-than-expected drop in inventories to open the withdrawal season failed to spark a sustained rally in the natural gas futures market Thursday, although prices finished the day slightly higher. After probing both sides of even, the December Nymex contract ultimately settled at $2.567/MMBtu, up 0.8 cents. January added 1.1 cents to $2.622.