Daily Market Update August 6, 2019
Early Morning Update
The Sep19 natural gas contract is trading up $0.03 at $2.10. The Sep19 crude oil contract is up $0.31 at $55.00.
Summary
After hitting its lowest point since May 2016 on Friday, the NYMEX prompt month lost an additional five cents yesterday, ultimately settling at $2.070/MMBtu. Forward 2020 and 2021 calendar strips also hit all-time lows for the second time in as many days, both losing a couple cents. The downward movement seen across the natural gas market comes after record-breaking high production levels. Yesterday, production hit an all-time daily high of 90.5 Bcf/d, beating the short-lived record of 90.4 Bcf/d established on Saturday. Demand also saw some growth yesterday, increasing to 72.4 Bcf/d, about 3.8 Bcf/d higher than Sunday’s level. Near-term forecasts of warm weather throughout the South are expected to push this week’s average demand levels up to 41 Bcf/d, which is 0.5 Bcf/d more than last week’s average. Looking at the 11-15 day outlook, warm weather is expected across the entire western U.S., indicating a continued increase in demand levels through mid-August.
Market Settles 08052019