Natural gas prices continued their downward trend with no clear end in sight. Having said that, natural gas didn’t decline throughout the week; it started off the week with little movement much like other commodities prices. Furthermore, the gap between future and spot didn’t move much as well and remained in Contango; it reached by the end of the week $0.09/mmbtu. According to the recent NG storage report, there was an injection of 25 bcf; the current natural gas storage is 57.7% above the 5-year average.
During last week the Henry Hub spot price decreased by 1.08% and the future price (May delivery) declined by 2.53%. During the month, natural gas spot price decreased by 7.07% and the future price (May delivery) by 9.39%.
Here is a short recap for the developments in natural gas market for the week ending on April 20th 2012:
Natural Gas Price April – Weekly Recap and Analysis
The Nymex Henry Hub Future Price (May delivery) declined during last week by 2.53% and reached on Friday $1.93 /mmbtu; its average daily change was -0.49%, and its weekly average price was 2.38% below the previous week’s average price.
Natural gas price (Henry Hub spot) also sharply decreased during last week by 1.08%, and its average price was 3.01% below last week’s average price.
The difference between the natural gas future and spot prices, i.e. future price minus spot price (if the spot are higher than the future its called Backwardation, if future is higher than its called Contango) was still in Contango all throughout the week; by the end of the week the Contango reached $0.09/mmbtu.
Natural Gas Price Charts
The following charts shows the developments in natural gas (Henry Hub) and futures prices (Nymex Henry Hub) in $/mmbtu between April 16th and April 20th.
The first chart presents the changes in natural gas prices (Henry Hub future and spot) during last week: the natural gas future price sharply declined mainly on Wednesday and Thursday.
In the second chart are the daily percent movements of natural gas prices (Henry Hub spot and Nymex Henry Hub future).
Natural Gas Storage Update – EIA Report:
According to the recent update, the underground natural gas storage (Billion Cubic Feet) increased for the fourth consecutive weeks, last week the storage levels increased by 25 Bcf; the natural gas storage settled at 2,512 billion cubic feet for all lower 48 states; the current natural gas storage is 57.7% above the 5-year average, and is also 53.1% above the storage level during the same week in 2011.
The recent natural gas storage weekly update as of April 19th.
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