Dow Jones Natural Gas - Morning Commentary

DJ Natural Gas Gains on Forecasts For Late-Season Cold



  By Christian Berthelsen


  Natural gas prices jumped Friday as weather forecasts turned colder into early April, raising expectations for
late-season heating demand.

  Natural gas for April delivery rose 8.2 cents, or 2.9%, to $2.895 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. The contract regained some of the ground lost Thursday after weekly inventory data from the U.S.
Energy Information Administration showed supplies fell less than expected.

  Inventories fell by 45 billion cubic feet in the data released Thursday, slightly less than the 47-bcf average
decline projected by analysts and traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. Inventories are now 53% above year-ago
levels and 13% below the five-year average.

  The market has been gaining recently as forecasts have turned colder toward the end of the heating season. That trend
appeared poised to continue Friday, with below-normal temperatures over much of the Northeast, a key demand region,
deepening toward the end of March and early April.

  "U.S. natural gas is bouncing into the weekend, getting on up after being sucker-punched lower by yesterday's lesser
withdrawal," research consultancy Schneider Electric said in a note.

  Still, robust production has kept the market in check, and analysts expect inventories to surge this spring and
summer when production growth continues and the warm weather limits demand.

  In the physical market, cash prices for next-day delivery of gas at the benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana last traded
at $2.85 a million British thermal units, up from Thursday's range of $2.77 to $2.87. Cash prices at the Transco Z6 hub
in New York last traded at $2.90 a million Btus, up from $2.825 to $2.85.


  Write to Christian Berthelsen at christian.berthelsen@wsj.com


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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  March 20, 2015 09:54 ET (13:54 GMT)

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

032015 13:54 -- GMT
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