Dow Jones - End of Day Commentary

DJ Natural Gas Prices Edge Up, Boosted by Strong Winter Demand


By Timothy Puko

  Natural gas prices inched higher Tuesday, boosted by strong winter demand and dwindling stockpiles.

  Natural gas for April delivery settled up 1.4 cents, or 0.5%, at $2.712 a million British thermal units on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded within a 7-cent range, part of a trend of declining volatility.

  "We're stuck in a little bit of a no-man's land," said Frank Clements, co-owner of Meridian Energy Brokers Inc.

  Private weather forecasts are showing normal and above-normal temperatures for nearly the entire country starting in
the second half of March. It could be the end of an arctic chill across the eastern half of the country that led to the
coldest February in about 30 years.

  Half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heat, making winter cold one of the market's biggest drivers for demand.

  Winter demand is still strong. Sub-zero temperatures could hit parts of the north this weekend from the Plains
through the Northeast, according to Weather Services International in Andover, Mass. That is likely to lead to large
storage withdrawals and has caused analysts to pull back from widespread expectations that well-filled storage could
become a severe drag on prices into the spring and summer.
FUTURES       SETTLEMENT NET CHANGE
Nymex April   $2.712     1.4c
Nymex May     $2.751     1.2c
Nymex June    $2.793     1.3c

CASH HUB      RANGE          PREVIOUS SESSION
El Paso Perm  $2.79-$2.935   $2.72-$2.7825
El Paso SJ    $2.78-$2.88    $2.72-$2.76
Henry Hub     $2.80-$3.02    $2.74-$2.91
Katy          $2.86-$3.05    $2.75-$2.83
SoCal         $2.82-$3.00    $2.79-$2.85
Tex East M3   $2.90-$3.10    $2.95-$3.10
Transco 65    $2.84-$3.02    $2.85-$2.98
Transco Z6    $3.75-$3.90    $4.34-$4.95
Waha          $3.00-$3.075   $2.80-$2.88

  -- Write to Timothy Puko at tim.puko@wsj.com


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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  March 03, 2015 15:16 ET (20:16 GMT)

  Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

030315 20:16 -- GMT
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