Another day up.

The NYMEX natural gas was calm, but drifted higher throughout the day. The February front month contract ended up 7 cents (1.5%) to $3.72 US/mm. Recent trading has been quite volatile with 9 of the last 10 trading days have seen greater than 5% changes.The summer 2025 strip was up 7 cents to $3.55.

The market was reacting to continued cold weather into the end of January. Next week’s storage report is forecast to be -250 Bcf and I’m confident that the one after will be at least -200 Bcf. This might finally bring the balance of gas in storage to the 5-year-average. This winter was forecast to be warmer than average, but this cold snap might change that. This being said, we still don’t know what February will bring, either warm or cold.

According to NOAA’s outlook, January cold temperatures are not leaving just yet.