DJ Natural Gas Rises on Weather Outlook
By Nicole Friedman
NEW YORK--Natural-gas prices rose Tuesday as traders studied the forecasts for colder weather in the next two weeks,
but concerns about oversupply capped gains.
Futures for April delivery settled up 3.5 cents, or 1.9%, at $1.863 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
The natural gas market is vastly oversupplied, as production remains robust and a warmer-than-average winter has
reduced demand for the fuel to heat homes and offices. Natural-gas inventories stood 48% above the five-year average
for this time of year as of March 11, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Natural-gas production in the lower 48 states rose to a record high of 73.3 billion cubic feet per day in February,
according to analytics firm Platts Bentek.
"Production remains high and demand is still underdeveloped," said energy-advisory firm Gelber & Associates in a
note.
A late bout of wintry cold could boost demand for natural gas in some parts of the U.S. in the next eight to 15 days,
according to NatGasWeather.com. "But overall, it's not going to be cold enough over enough of the U.S. for a long
enough period to bring a significant draw on supplies," the forecaster said.
FUTURES SETTLEMENT NET CHANGE
Nymex April $1.863 +3.5c
Nymex May $1.937 +3.3c
Nymex June $2.035 +3.6c
CASH HUB RANGE PREVIOUS SESSION
El Paso Perm $1.58-$1.61 $1.59-$1.63
El Paso SJ $1.60-$1.62 $1.61-$1.63
Henry Hub $1.74-$1.775 $1.74-$1.77
Katy $1.735-$1.765 $1.77-$1.84
SoCal $1.67-$1.69 $1.675-$1.685
Tex East M3 $1.12-$1.19 $1.135-$1.25
Transco 65 $1.71-$1.7475 $1.72-$1.77
Transco Z6 $1.20-$1.25 $1.15-$1.50
Waha $1.62-$1.64 $1.68-$1.685
Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 22, 2016 15:23 ET (19:23 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
032216 19:23 -- GMT
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