Natural Gas News – January 31, 2023

Natural Gas News – January 31, 2023

UPDATE 1-U.S. Natgas Jumps 6% in Low Volume Trade Ahead of Contract Expiration 

U.S. natural gas futures jumped about 6% on Friday from a 20-month low in the prior session as late buying during a low-volume day ahead of the expiration of the February contract caused prices to swing wildly from negative to positive several times in the last half hour of trade. Traders noted this usually happens as some gas sellers seek to exit their front-month futures positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) before they expire because they do not want to deliver gas to the Henry Hub in Louisiana. Volatility often peaks near contract expiration days because trading volumes are usually extremely low since few in the market want to deliver or take gas from the Henry Hub. There were only about 3,476 front-month contracts traded on the NYMEX on Friday. That compares with an average of 138,000… For more info go to https://yhoo.it/3DoL1Jl

Europe is Scooping up Future US Liquefied Natural Gas Supplies to Prevent Crisis 

Buyers from across Europe are turning to long-term supply deals with U.S. liquefied natural gas exporters to mitigate an energy crisis. The trend shows how countries are moving past earlier wariness to enter long-term gas agreements due to their commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The war in Ukraine fractured the well-established trade relationship between the European Union and Russia, which had been its top natural gas supplier and was expected to remain so as long as the continent needed the fuel. Since the invasion, the Europeans have been buying up more spot shipments of liquefied natural gas from the U.S., which led the world in 2022, to replace diminishing imports from Russia. Buyers there are now showing more interest in long-term agreements with in-the-works… For more info go to https://bit.ly/3Jteh5x