Daily Market Update March 6, 2018

Early Morning Update

The Apr18 natural gas contract is up $.02 at $2.72.  The Apr18 crude contract is up $0.45 at $63.02.

Summary

The April prompt month rose slightly on Monday, adding less than a cent to settle at $2.704. The 12-month strip and calendar 2019 barely moved up as well, finishing the day at $2.869 and $2.789 respectively, while 2020 rose a cent to $2.766. Weather forecasts have taken a slightly colder turn over the last few days, indicating normal to moderately below normal temperatures may extend through next week, keeping demand at levels  around 9% higher than Match 2017. Despite the slightly colder turn of the next two weeks, strong production continues to bring confidence to the market as levels average near 78 bcf/d with no sign of letting up. The new LNG export facility at Cove Point in Maryland was officially approved for commercial service yesterday, as it becomes the second such facility in the United States. At full capacity, Cove Point has export capabilities of about 0.75 bcf/d, but will not see another tanker arrive for export until the end of this month. 

Market Update 030618