NGI Mexico GPI

A shift colder in forecasts Tuesday helped natural gas futures bulls build on Monday’s rally, although with the start of injections, imminent upward momentum appeared limited as the market awaited a better reading on balances. In the spot market, West Texas posted another round of heavy losses as the region continues to struggle with pipeline constraints; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. fell 1.5 cents to $2.610/MMBtu.

The last-minute cancellation by Mexico’s government of an international energy forum this week has revealed a deep schism among senior politicians over the current administration’s policies on the sector.

Some cooler forecast trends late in the month coincided with an early-week bounce for natural gas futures Monday, though with weather sentiment far from bullish, market observers were looking beyond temperature trends to explain the move.

Mexico’s Centro Nacional de Control del Gas Natural (Cenagas) has launched the Consulta Publica 2019 process to gauge current and potential demand for natural gas throughout the country.

Mexico’s weakening economic growth prospects could be additionally hurt by a lack of reliable supply of cheap natural gas and electricity, several experts have warned in recent days.

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.

With forecasts offering a clearer — and generally bearish — picture on the weather outlook through the end of the heating season, natural gas futures sold off Friday. In the spot market, forecasts for colder temperatures expected over the weekend boosted prices in the Northeast, while points in the West declined; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. fell 13.5 cents to $2.715/MMBtu.

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. This is the second in the series.

After the market initially expressed some disappointment over a large inventory withdrawal that came in on the bearish side of consensus, natural gas futures finished higher for the third straight session Thursday. In the spot market, chilly temperatures on tap for the weekend supported gains across the Midwest, Midcontinent and Texas; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 9.5 cents to $2.850/MMBtu.