Daily Market Update December 23, 2019
Early Morning Update
The Jan20 natural gas contract is trading up $0.06 at $2.33. The Jan20 crude oil contract is down $0.55 at $60.63.
Summary
On Friday, the January 2019 NYMEX natural gas futures were up 5.5 cents to close at $2.328. The 12-month strip was up 3 cents to close at $2.32. Futures price increases were largely due to cooler than normal temperatures experienced across the country. However, calendar strip 2023-2025 are still showing steady, favorable pricing after hitting all-time lows in the past two weeks. U.S. dry production is still below the record high, yet remains strong at levels averaging just below 92.0 Bcf/d, about 5 Bcf/d higher than December 2018. Temperatures are now forecasted as 15-20° above normal across the Midwest and 10-15° across the east, with the warmest temperatures expected right after the holidays. However, despite warmer weather forecasts, last week’s temperatures ran cooler than normal, resulting in a 6 Bcf/d U.S. natural gas demand increase year over year.