With the market weighing mild shoulder season weather and bloated storage against weaker production, regional natural gas forward prices generally held steady at the front of the curve during the April 4-10 trading period. Fixed prices at benchmark Henry Hub finished the period at $1.888/MMBtu for May delivery, up 4.3 cents week/week, according to NGI’s Forward Look. Numerous Lower 48 hubs similarly finished within a nickel of even. There were some exceptions, notably in the Permian Basin, where the region’s oil-driven economics contributed to an inversion of natural gas prices for May deliver ..read more

Regional natural gas forward prices advanced during the March 28-April 3 trading period as the start of the spring injection season found market bulls searching for signs of green shoots after a bitter winter. May fixed prices at Henry Hub rallied 12.1 cents to $1.845/MMBtu, setting the pace for similar front-month gains across much of the Lower 48, NGI’s Forward Look data show. Working Down The Storage Glut With the winter that wasn’t officially in the books, the market can shift its attention to the injection season.  Pricing dynamics across the curve reflect a market caught between an ..read more

As an outsized storage surplus continued to hang over the outlook, regional natural gas forward prices shed value during the March 21-27 trading period, NGI’s Forward Look data show. Front month fixed prices at benchmark Henry Hub fell 12.7 cents for the period to end at $1.577/MMBtu. However, the benchmark also saw double-digit losses for the May and June contracts. Fixed prices for June 2024 delivery at Henry dipped below $2.000 during the period to $1.959, Forward Look data show. [Mexico Matters: Cross-border energy trade between the U.S. and Mexico reached $82 billion last year. Understand ..read more

Natural gas forward prices pushed modestly higher at the front of the curve during the March 14-20 trading period, particularly in the Northeast and Appalachia, data from NGI’s Forward Look show. Meanwhile, spring contracts at hubs near the congested Permian Basin struggled under the weight of weak near-term fundamentals. Fixed prices for April delivery at benchmark Henry Hub added 4.1 cents week/week to exit the period at $1.704/MMBtu. Modest front month fixed price gains were the norm for most of the Lower 48. West Texas Woes With the market awash in supply exiting an exceptionally mild wint ..read more

Against a backdrop of soft near-term fundamentals, exceptionally weak spot market pricing and plummeting Nymex futures, regional natural gas forwards came under widespread bearish pressure during the March 7-13 trading period, NGI’s Forward Look data show. For a market still threading the needle between near-term oversupply and anticipated future demand growth, selling was weighted toward the front of the curve. Henry Hub April fixed prices shed 20-plus cents week/week for April, May and June 2024 delivery, Forward Look data show. Front month fixed prices for the benchmark dropped 27.4 cents f ..read more

Regional natural gas forwards generally pushed higher at the front of the curve during the Feb. 29-March 6 trading period as ebbing production strengthened the price outlook for a market dealing with excess supply exiting winter, NGI’s Forward Look data show. Fixed prices for April delivery at benchmark Henry Hub added 4.0 cents for the period to finish at $1.937, and aside from some selling in the Western Lower 48, most locations finished in positive territory week/week at the front of the curve. [Download Now: In our 2024 Natural Gas Outlook Report ‘Future In Focus’, Natural Gas Intelligence ..read more

Regional natural gas forward curves offered hints of a market climbing out of the doldrums for the upcoming injection season, even as many hubs held flattish week/week for April delivery, NGI’s Forward Look data show. Fixed prices at Henry Hub for April delivery added 2.2 cents for the Feb. 22-28 trading period to reach $1.897/MMBtu, according to Forward Look. Contracts further along the 2024 strip showed a bit more life. The national benchmark rallied 13.0 cents for August to exit at $2.627. June through December 2024 all picked up around a dime or more week/week. [Mexico Matters: Cross-borde ..read more

A wave of bullish optimism, tied to the production cuts announced recently by Chesapeake Energy Corp., also lifted regional natural gas forwards higher during the Feb. 15-21 trading period, NGI’s Forward Look data show. For numerous Lower 48 trading locations, the most pronounced week/week fixed price gains occurred further along the strip during the 2024 injection season.  Chesapeake in its 4Q2024 earnings results signaled its intent to curtail activity in both the Haynesville and Marcellus shales in 2024. The latest Forward Look price trends imply a shift in the market’s thinking around ..read more

Slammed by a lack of winter weather set against a robust supply backdrop, regional natural gas forwards fell sharply across the Lower 48 during the Feb. 8-14 trading period, NGI’s Forward Look data show. Henry Hub fixed prices for March delivery took a 35.6-cent nosedive week/week to exit the period at $1.620/MMBtu. The benchmark saw double-digit losses across the 2024 strip over the past week, showing bearish sentiment spilling past the winter months that have been hampered by underperforming weather-driven demand. New England premiums were hit particularly hard, not just for March 2024 but a ..read more

Exceptional warmth near-term and an enduring supply buffer kept the pressure on regional natural gas forward prices during the Feb. 1-7 trading period, according to NGI’s Forward Look. March fixed prices at benchmark Henry Hub dropped 13.6 cents to end at $1.976/MMBtu, setting the pace for coast-to-coast discounts at the front of the curve.  With only a handful of exceptions, Lower 48 hubs shed value across the 2024 strip, illustrating the prevailing bearish sentiment as weather-driven demand has largely missed the mark this heating season. [Download Now: In our 2024 Natural Gas Outlook R ..read more