US Natural Gas Futures Give Back Some of Their Gains

摘要

Profit taking and a shift in weather forecasts pulled February natural gas futures 1.3% lower to the low $4.30s going into the threeday weekend. But the contract still posted a 6.7% gain for the week, which saw a huge surge in bullish sentiment that will be hard to tamp down. The week's rally leading up to an all-time high storage withdrawal added 9%, or 36.5￠ to the contract. But action stalled Thursday and Friday before bulls could hit their $4.50 target predicated on two key expectations: an immense storage draw of around 300 billion cubic feet and another shot of Arctic air plunging deep into the Lower 48. Neither panned out. The US Energy Information Administration reported a 287 Bcf withdrawal for the week ended Jan. 10 and the forecast warmed considerably on Friday, with the coldest air now seen confined to the US Midwest and Northeast (OD Jan.17'14). That also eased concerns for freeze offs in vulnerable production regions, said Gelber & Associates analyst Aaron Calder.