DJ Natural Gas Prices Give Back Gains as Weather Outlook Moderates
By Christian Berthelsen
Natural gas prices fell back Tuesday as forecasts moderated for the first cool weather of the fall, with expectations
fading for a strong start to heating season.
Natural gas futures for the new front-month November contract fell 4.8 cents, or 1.8%, to $2.6220 a million British
thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, giving back much of the gains booked the day before.
Natural gas prices have been locked in a tight range for most of spring and summer amid weak demand and surging U.S.
production and supplies. Demand is expected to begin rising with the onset of cooler fall weather.
"This market has wasted little time in relinquishing yesterday's price gains," research consultancy Ritterbusch and
Associates said in a note. "It would appear that the market over reacted to a brief cold spell."
Weather forecasts on Monday showed the first below-normal temperatures of the fall season beginning to creep in
across a wide swath spanning from the northwest to the southeast, and falling temperatures in key eastern and Midwest
demand regions. But those outlooks began to moderate on Tuesday, with temperatures in most of those regions returning
to normal over the next two weeks.
Natural gas stockpiles have been growing after a season of strong production and mild weather that limited demand, a
factor that has weighed on the market throughout the spring and summer. The Energy Information Administration said last
week that the U.S. has 3.44 trillion cubic feet of gas in storage, 15.7% above year-ago levels and 4.5% above average
for this time of year.
Write to Christian Berthelsen at christian.berthelsen@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwireshttp://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires">http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
>
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 29, 2015 11:09 ET (15:09 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
092915 15:09 -- GMT
------
No comments:
Post a Comment