Natural gas prices started the week on a positive note but this trend has changed on during the second part of the week. By the end of the week natural gas rates tumbled down. I have referred to this change in direction in a recent post. Following these developments the difference between future and spot was mostly in Backwardation. The NG storage continues to rise at a slower rate than in the past.
During last week the Henry Hub spot decreased by 5.18%, and the future (September delivery) declined by 4.64%. During last month, natural gas spot rose by 17.15% and the future (short term delivery) by 13.83%.
Here is a short review for the latest changes in natural gas market for the week ending on August 3rd 2012:
Natural Gas Market– August Review
The Nymex Henry Hub Future (short term delivery) decreased during last week by 4.64% and by Friday reached to $2.88 /mmbtu; its average daily change was -0.84%, its weekly average price was 0.77% below the previous average price.
The Henry Hub spot fell during last week by 5.18%, but its average price was 0.06% above the previous average price.
The gap between the NG future and spot prices – future minus spot – was mostly in Backwardation during the week; by the end the difference reached -$0.05, i.e. Backwardation.
Natural Gas Charts
The following charts shows Nat Gas (Henry Hub) and future (Nymex Henry Hub) in $/mmbtu between July 30th and August 3rd.
The first chart presents the changes of NAT Gas (Henry Hub future and spot) as natural gas future and spot rose during most of the week.
In the second chart are the daily percent changes of the Henry Hub spot and Nymex Henry Hub future (short term delivery).
NG Storage Update – EIA Report:
According to the latest EIA report on natural gas the underground storage (Billion Cubic Feet) rose by 28 Bcf to 3,217 billion cubic feet for all lower 48 states; the NGs storage was 14.5% above the 5-year average, and was also 17.2% above the storage level during the same week in 2011.
The recent NG storage weekly update as of July 27th.
For further reading: