Forward market prices in summer volatility at SoCal, despite storage builds

摘要

Forwards markets continue to anticipate elevated natural gas prices at the SoCal Gas city-gate during this summer’s peak-demand months, despite recent and hefty injections to gas storage there. On Tuesday, forwards prices at the Southern California gas hub were assessed at $6.10/MMBtu for the July calendar-month contract and at $6.25/MMBtu for August. Both contracts had fallen below the $6/MMBtu level during much of April, S&P Global Platts data shows. Forwards prices for off-peak months June and September have remained significantly lower by comparison, trading in the mid-$3s/ MMBtu and upper-$4s/MMBtu, respectively.