NGI Mexico GPI

The latest weekly storage data turned up a bullish surprise for natural gas futures traders, but a milder forecast cut the rally short, ultimately sending prices more than a nickel lower. The December Nymex contract settled at $2.772/MMBtu, down 5.6 cents; January fell 4.8 cents to $2.859.

Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico natural gas market reform, is offering the following question-and-answer (Q&A) column as part of a regular interview series with experts in the Mexican natural gas market.

Natural gas futures pulled back a few cents Wednesday as the bullish momentum generated by a recent stretch of strongly colder-trending forecasts showed signs of petering out. The December Nymex contract slid 3.4 cents to settle at $2.828/MMBtu after going as high as $2.891. January settled at $2.907, off 3.3 cents.

Mexican state-owned electric utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), long plagued by operational inefficiencies and financial losses, showed few signs of turning things around in 2018, according to a report by the government’s auditing body, the Auditoría Superior de la Federación (ASF).

Further cold trends for an already chilly early-season forecast helped extend a natural gas futures rally Tuesday, although analysts pointed to risks for a reversal given structural oversupply in the market. The December Nymex contract added 4.1 cents to settle at $2.862/MMBtu. January settled at $2.940, up 4.2 cents.

The 2019-2023 business plan of Mexican national oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) presents an unrealistic picture of production growth and reserves replenishment over the coming years, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Further cold trends from the latest guidance kept the fire burning for natural gas futures prices Monday, extending last week’s gains for a market focused on early-season weather signals. The December Nymex contract settled 10.7 cents higher at $2.821/MMBtu after probing as high as $2.842. January picked up 9.6 cents to settle at $2.898, while February settled 8.7 cents higher at $2.849.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy expects to reach final investment decisions (FID) during the first half of next year for liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion projects while it finishes construction of its second and third liquefaction trains at the Cameron, LA, LNG export site.

TC Energy Corp. now expects the phased entrance into service of the 886 MMcf/d Tula-Villa de Reyes pipeline in Mexico to occur in early 2020, CEO Russell Girling said Friday during a third-quarter earnings call.