Daily Market Update December 4, 2017

Early Morning Update

The Jan18 natural gas contract is trading down $0.06 at $3.00.  The Jan18 crude contract is down $0.66 at $57.70.

Summary

On Friday, NYMEX natural gas futures price for January settled up by 3.6 cents at $3.061/MMBtu. This morning, prices remain strong due to bullish weather, which is expected to blanket the majority of the major natural gas heating demand centers in the U.S. into mid-December. Bolstered heating demand for natural gas, along with the most recent stall in production, could cause continued volatility throughout the month and further delay the potential for a winter dip. So far this year, exports have averaged around 4.0 Bcf/d and are expected to increase over the next couple of years, as the Cove Point LNG export facility and pipeline projects to Mexico are completed. Production was able to recover slightly over the weekend, reaching 76.7 Bcf/d yesterday, and Northeast production remains elevated around 27.3 Bcf/d. 

Market Update 1204