NGI Weekly Gas Price Index

It was a stretch of solid, yeoman-like advances in gas prices for the three-day week ended May 29. TheNGIWeekly National Spot Gas Average recorded a gain of 9 cents to $4.30. Only two points fell onto the loss side of the trading ledger and all regions posted gains ranging from a few pennies to well over a dime. Greatest gains were seen on Tennessee Zone 6 200 L with a rise of 44 cents to average $4.13, while the largest loss was just 3 cents on Florida Gas Zone 2 to $4.43.

Winners were able to maintain a slight numerical advantage over losers, but when the averages were tallied the NGI Weekly Spot Gas Average came in at $4.21, down 6 cents for the week ended May 23. Most points were within a dime of unchanged. Of the actively traded points, Tennessee Zone 4 Marcellus made the greatest gains adding 12 cents to $2.24, but Northeast losses were far greater. Weekly quotes on Iroquois Zone 2 fell 37 cents to $4.22 and were closely followed by a decline of 34 cents to $3.54 at the Algonquin Citygates.

Red ink spilled far and wide in weekly physical natural gas trading as the low-demand characteristics tied to the shoulder season were more than evident. All actively traded points followed byNGIshowed losses ranging from just over a dime to as much as 90 cents. For the week ended May 16 theNGIWeekly Spot Gas Average nationally fell 28 cents to $4.27.

Buyers seeking to replenish thin working gas inventories got something of a break for the week ended May 9. Nearly all market points recorded losses and the NGI National Weekly Spot Gas Average finished 8 cents lower at $4.55. A slightly bearish inventory report may augur a changed storage/refill outlook.

With the exception of the Northeast, all points were within a nickel of unchanged and the Northeast was only off a little over a dime for the week ended May 2. Buying for storage refill for the most part countered lessened weather load and the NGI Weekly Spot Gas Average nationally fell 3 cents to $4.64. Of the actively traded points Marcellus locations proved to be the week’s strongest gainers. Transco Leidy was up by 15 cents to $3.99 and Tennessee Zone 4 Marcellus added 14 cents to $3.95. Biggest losers proved to be Tennessee Zone 6 200 L dropping 28 cents to $4.39 and Tennessee Zone 4 313 Pool sliding 26 cents to $4.20.

Weekly physical natural gas prices compiled byNGIput in a deceptively modest gain of 6 cents to average $4.66 for the week ended April 25. Although futures slid on the week, the advance of the May contract from an April 2 low of $4.221 managed to make a high for the move on Thursday at $4.805 hinting that the advance from earlier in the month may still have more legs.

At the end of the abbreviated trading week ended April 17, physical traders must have been more focused on Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies than trading natural gas as all regions of the country posted small changes ranging from a loss of a couple of pennies to gains of just over a dime. Nationally theNGI Weekly Spot Gas Average gained a nickel to $4.60.

Traders and marketers can breathe something of a sigh of relief that the mind-bending volatility of the winter is past, but market bulls were treated to the first storage report of the newly-minted injection season.

Stability will prevail in natural gas transportation across British Columbia (BC) for two years while the main service provider embarks on the biggest growth project in its 57-year history.