13 August 2009 @ 02:20 pm ET
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Overview (For the Week Ending Wednesday, August 12, 2009)
Reversing gains from the previous week, natural gas prices posted declines in both the spot and futures markets, with decreases in the spot markets of up to 48 cents per million Btu (MMBtu). The Henry Hub spot price fell 25 cents, or 7 percent, closing at $3.36 per MMBtu on Wednesday, August 12.
The natural gas futures contract for September 2009 at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell 56 cents, or 14 percent, on the week, closing at $3.479 on Wednesday. During its tenure as the near-month contract, the price of the September 2009 contract peaked at $4.042 on August 5.
Natural gas in storage increased by 63 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to 3,152 Bcf for the week ending August 7, 2009, according to EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
As of August 7, the number of natural gas rotary rigs was 681, an increase of 4 from the previous week, according to Baker Hughes Incorporated data. Following several months of decline, the number of rigs has oscillated in the last several weeks, which could indicate that the rig count has stopped declining. However, natural gas rigs are currently 57 percent lower than year-ago levels, when they were near record highs.
Mirroring natural gas prices, the price of the West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract fell by $1.89, or about 3 percent, closing at $70.08 per barrel, or $12.08 per MMBtu, yesterday.
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