Updated Aug 30, 2024
8/30/24
Senior Editor, Markets
Dulles, VA
Natural gas forwards retreated during the Jan. 11-17 trading period as impacts to both supply and demand from recent Arctic weather began to subside and as a much milder late January pattern came into sharper focus.
Including gains in the Marcellus Shale, the U.S. natural gas rig count climbed three units to 120 for the week ended Friday (Jan. 19), according to the latest tally from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR).
Natural gas futures continued to face bearish headwinds early Friday from forecasts suggesting a warm-dominated Lower 48 pattern for late January could extend into early February. The February Nymex contract was off 9.3 cents to $2.604/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.
Natural gas forwards pulled back during the Jan. 11-17 trading period as impacts to both supply and demand from recent Arctic weather began to subside and as a much milder late January pattern came into sharper focus.
Natural gas futures remained under pressure early Thursday as traders priced in mild late January temperatures, though an anticipated triple-digit pull in the latest government inventory data also had the potential to influence market sentiment.
Shrinking volumes from gassy plays will overshadow higher associated output from the Permian Basin to drive a modest decline in natural gas production from key Lower 48 regions in early 2024, according to the latest modeling from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Natural gas futures continued to crumble in early trading Wednesday as an exceptionally mild late January forecast loomed large, overshadowing supply disruptions and demand impacts from recent frigid conditions across the Lower 48.
Despite intense winter weather and market disruptions in the near term, natural gas futures were down sharply in early trading Tuesday as models increased confidence in a return to milder temperatures for the final third of January.
With a mid-January arctic blast lining up to drive strong heating demand and disrupt production volumes, regional natural gas forwards raced higher during the Jan. 4-10 trading period, NGI’s Forward Look data show.
The U.S. natural gas rig count fell to 117 for the week ended Friday (Jan. 12), down one rig for the period, while a drop in oil drilling saw the combined domestic tally fall two rigs to end at 619, according to the latest numbers from Baker Hughes Co. (BKR).