DJ Natural Gas Prices Continue to Retreat
By Nicole Friedman
NEW YORK--Natural gas prices continued to retreat Tuesday from nearly three-month highs on concerns about weak
demand.
Futures for May delivery settled down 3.1 cents, or 1.5%, to $2.032 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
Robust output and moderate indoor-heating demand has pushed the natural-gas market into oversupply, with inventories
standing nearly 50% above average levels for this time of year.
However, weather-driven demand is expected to remain moderate in the coming two weeks, according to forecasters.
"The caution flag is flying as the market remains oversupplied," Dominick Chirichella, analyst at the Energy
Management Institute, said in a note.
Prices rallied 31% through April 22 after hitting a 17-year low March 3, as signs of declining production boosted
expectations that the glut of natural gas would shrink by late 2016 or 2017.
"U.S. production has flattened over the past 18 months due to falling investment on weaker prices and a lack of
incremental pipeline capacity," said Jefferies in a note. "We see supply declines surfacing this year just as demand
growth for cheap natural gas energy truly sets in."
Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 26, 2016 15:25 ET (19:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
042616 19:25 -- GMT
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