Dow Jones - Morning Natural Gas Commentary

DJ Natural Gas Futures Pushed Lower by Abundant Supplies


   By Timothy Puko


  NEW YORK--Natural-gas prices inched down Friday as traders focused on the
sizable supply overwhelming the market.

  Natural gas for September delivery is down 1.1 cents, or 0.3%, at $3.878 a
million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price is
in the middle of a 30-cent trading range that gas has stayed in for more than a
month.

  The prices have been under pressure this summer as producers have kept up a
record pace at refilling stockpiles. The U.S. Energy Information Administration
said Thursday that another 88 billion cubic feet went into storage last week, a
record for the second week of August and 83% more than the five-year average
for that week.

  At a time of year when summer heat usually gets people to turn on air
conditioners and use gas-fired electricity, mild weather has helped producers
create large surpluses more commonly seen during the temperate spring and fall.
They have averaged 100-bcf additions to storage every week for nearly four
months. The EIA said they needed just 90 bcf a week to adequately fill storage
for the winter.

  "The market is perhaps reassessing end-of-season stock levels," said Teri
Viswanath, a natural-gas strategist at BNP Paribas SA in New York. "We have
more than enough gas."

  Physical gas for next-day delivery at the Henry Hub in Louisiana last traded
at $3.875/mmBtu, compared with Thursday's range of $3.86-$3.89. Cash prices at
the Transco Z6 hub in New York last traded at $1.90/mmBtu, compared with
Thursday's range of $2.33 to $2.39.


  Write to Timothy Puko at tim.puko@wsj.com
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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  August 22, 2014 09:43 ET (13:43 GMT)

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082214 13:43 -- GMT
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