Happy Friday
EIA reported a withdrawal of -93 bcf from storage for the week ending December 20th. This was less than the -98 bcf consensus forecast, so a miss (but a smaller miss to the downside than the big miss to the upside two weeks ago). Last year this week we saw a withdrawal of -87bcf and the five year average is -127bcf.
The market is thin because of the Christmas holiday so trading is exaggerated. The NYMEX January contract expired this morning, so February is the front month now and February was way up on Tuesday, down on Thursday, and up again today.
For the week, February closed unchanged on the week to $3.40 US/mm, but hit a high of $3.545 and a low of $2.256. That is a big range high to low but normal for a week with few traders.
While the front month is down for the week, next summer is still higher. The Summer 2025 strip is up 18 cents on the week to $3.31.
Having said all that, next week will also be thin trading since traders have balanced their books for next month (and for year end) so lets wait until after next week to get a better read if this rally will continue into 2025 or if it is a big head fake.
The weather forecast is starting to look colder for the beginning of January so we ought to see some seasonal demand.
Have a good weekend