Natural gas market slowed down during last week as the Henry Hub price declined during most of last week and ended the month of September at its lowest price of the month. By the end of the week, the Nymex Henry Hub Future Price (October delivery) reached $3.67/ MMbtu, the same price as the Henry Hub spot price.
Here is a short review of the main changes in natural gas prices for the week ending on September 30th:
Natural Gas Prices September – Weekly Review and Analysis
Nymex Henry Hub Future Price (October delivery) declined during the week by 2.96% and reached on Friday $3.67/mmbtu; its average daily change was -0.16%, but its weekly average price was 0.35% above the previous week’s average price.
Natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) fell by 3.42% during the week, but its average price was 0.95% above last week’s average price.
The spread between the Henry Hub future and spot gas prices, i.e. future price minus spot price (if the spot prices are higher than the future prices its called Backwardation, if future price is higher than its called Contango) was mostly in Backwardation throughout the week, but by Friday the gap was closed.
Natural Gas Prices Chart
The following chart shows the daily changes of natural gas prices (Henry Hub) and futures prices (Nymex Henry Hub) in $/mmbtu during September 26- September 30.
The chart presents the weekly development of natural gas spot price and Henry Hub future price as they both had a downward trend during the second part of the week.
The second chart presents the daily percent changes of natural gas spot price (Henry Hub) and Nymex Henry Hub future price; they have started the week with sharp rises, but during the second part of the week they sharply declined.
EIA Natural Gas Report – Highlights:
The underground natural gas storage (Billion Cubic Feet) rose by 111 Bcf and reached 3,312 billion cubic feet for all lower 48 states – the highest stock level since December 17th, 2011; the natural gas storage is has shifted and was 0.2% above the 5-year average.
The chart below shows the natural gas storage (weekly figures) and Henry Hub natural gas prices in 2011.
To sum up, natural gas storage, imports, consumption and production increased while natural gas prices fell during the week of September 23rd.
For the complete natural gas market report, see here.
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For further reading:
- Weekly Outlook for October 3-7
- Natural gas prices outlook for September 2011
- Forex Market | Weekly Recap 26-30 September
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