Daily Market Update August 21, 2019
Early Morning Update
The Sep19 natural gas contract is trading down a half penny at $2.21. The Sep19 crude oil contract is up $0.47 at $56.60.
Summary
The NYMEX natural gas prompt month contract strengthened yet again yesterday, opening the trading day at $2.202/MMBtu and closing at $2.218/MMBtu, a modest gain of $0.016. Demand from power burn is starting to fizzle, as temperatures begin to moderate across much of the Midwest today. Further declines in power burn demand are expected as we get closer towards the weekend, as weather forecasts show cooler temperatures across much of the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic. However, the news of lower demand from power burn is being offset by declines in natural gas production, as well as increases in demand for exports. Since reaching a new all-time high of 91.3 Bcf/day on Monday, Aug. 19, production has since dropped below 90 Bcf/day for Tuesday and Wednesday. LNG feedgas is projected to ramp back up to 6.3 Bcf/day today. Looking ahead, tomorrow’s EIA storage report is expected to report an injection higher than both last year and the 5-year average.