Natural Gas – Weekly Recap April 1-5

Natural gas future price (short term delivery) tumbled down during the first few days of the week only to bounce back on the last couple of days of the week. According to the recent EIA natural gas storage update, the natural gas storage declined again while the average five years remained flat: The NG storage withdrawal was 94 Bcf. In comparison, during the same week last year the injection was 42 Bcf; this withdrawal in the storage might have pulled up natural gas prices by the end of the week. During last week, the Henry Hub future (short term delivery) rose again by 2.51%.

Here is a short analysis of the latest developments in natural gas market for the week ending on April 5th 2013:

Natural Gas Market – April Report

The Nymex Henry Hub Future (short term delivery) rose again during last week by 2.51% and by Friday reached $4.13/mmbtu; its average daily change was 0.52%; its weekly average price was 0.48% above last week’s average price.

The gap between the NG future and spot prices – future minus spot – remained in backwardation during said week.

Natural Gas Charts

The following charts present the shifts in Nat Gas future (Nymex Henry Hub) in $/mmbtu between April 1-5.

Natural Gas price  chart -  April 1-5  2013As seen in the chart herein, the NG prices (Henry Hub future and spot) bounced back by the end of the week after they had declined during the first few 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). The chart presents the price shifts of natural gas during the previous week.

Natural Gas chart - percent change  April 1-5 2013NG Storage Update – EIA Report:

 

Natural Gas Storage

The underground natural gas storage (Billion Cubic Feet) fell again during the previous week by 5.28% or by 94 Bcf; the storage reached 1,687 billion cubic feet for all lower 48 states – the lowest level since April 2011; the current storage is only 2.1% below the 5-year average and 31.6% below the storage during the same week in 2012. During the same week in March 2012 the natural gas injection was 42 Bcf, and the five year average change in storage for the parallel week of March was null. This news is might have contributed to recovery of natural gas prices. This week’s withdrawal was mostly driven from Eastern consumption region with a 48 Bcf extraction.

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