Natural gas (short term delivery) and spot price resumed their downward trend during last week as the future rate fell by a sharper rate than the spot rate. Following these changes the difference between future and spot was mostly in Backwardation during the week. The NG storage rose again at a slower pace than last year.
During last week the Henry Hub spot decreased by 0.4%, and the future (October delivery) fell by 4.3%.
Here is a short review for the recent developments in natural gas market for the week ending on September 7th 2012:
Natural Gas Market– September Review
The Nymex Henry Hub Future (short term delivery) declined during last week by 4.29% and by Friday reached $2.68 /mmbtu; its average daily change was -0.86%, its weekly average price was 3.04% above the previous average price.
The Henry Hub spot also declined during last week by 0.36%, and its average price was 2.79% above the previous average price.
The difference between the NG future and spot prices – future minus spot – started the week in Contango but during the second half of the week it shifted to Backwardation; by the end the difference reached -$0.05, i.e. Backwardation.
Natural Gas Charts
The following charts show Nat Gas (Henry Hub) and future (Nymex Henry Hub) in $/mmbtu between September 3rd and September 7th.
The first chart presents the changes of NG (Henry Hub future and spot) as natural gas future tumbled down during most of the week while spot rate declined only during the last couple of days 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 review on natural gas the underground storage (Billion Cubic Feet) increased by 28 Bcf to 3,402 billion cubic feet for all lower 48 states; the NGs storage was 10.7% above the 5-year average, and was also 13.1% above the storage level during the same week in 2011.
The recent NG storage weekly update as of August 31st.
For further reading: