The Weekly Natural Gas Market Newsletter

August 8, 2022

Natural Gas News & Notes

The September NYMEX natural gas futures contract settled down 16.5 cents at $8.064 for the week ending 8/5. During the week, the contract traded in a 93-cent range posting a high of $8.48 and a low of $7.55. Compared to how natural gas prices have traded all summer, this would be considered a "mild" week of price volatility. It's possible that the contract is entering a period of price consolidation before deciding what the next major price direction move will be.

On Thursday, the EIA reported an injection of 41 BCF for the week ending 7/29. Storage inventories now stand at 2,457 BCF which is 9.8% below year ago levels and 12.1 % below the previous 5-year average. The weekly injection was a little bit higher than most market analysts that had been expecting to see as consensus was forming around an injection of 33 BCF. This larger than expected figure could indicate that the market might be loosening some. The early view for next week's report is an injection of 46 BCF.

While the market experienced a somewhat "muted" week of trading, some bullish news did emerge. The Freeport LNG export facility and the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) have entered into a Consent Agreement related to the June 8 fire incident at the facility that shuttered operations. The Freeport plant now believes that commercial operations could begin in early October. Some analysts had believed that the facility might not restart again until December. The additional 2 BCF/day of gas supply that the Freeport facility currently isn't using has helped keep the natural gas market from breaching double digit pricing over the last 2 months.