Chicago city-gates’ gas winter strip climbs to fresh high as nuclear generation uncertainty builds

摘要

US Midwest gas benchmark Chicago city-gates has seen its 2021-2022 winter strip (November-April) rise to its highest level year to date, as ongoing uncertainty over whether Exelon will retire two nuclear power facilities in Illinois this fall heightens the possibility that the region will depend more heavily on gas to meet winter demand. Chicago city-gates’ winter strip climbed 61 cents over the last 30 days to reach $4.30/MMBtu, according to the most recent S&P Global Platts Analytics M2MS data. While the US natural gas market as a whole looks increasingly bullish for winter, Chicago city-gate’s winter strip’s basis to Henry Hub has widened 7 cents over the same time period to a 19-cent premium.