With recovering flows to the Freeport LNG terminal bringing out the bulls, natural gas futures were rallying through midday trading Monday. Spot prices were climbing off the lows recorded for delivery over the weekend.
Here’s the latest:
- June Nymex futures up 9.3 cents to $2.016/MMBtu as of 1:58 p.m. ET
With slow stochastics “in extreme oversold territory” heading into Monday’s session, the technical outlook suggested June futures could see a “short-term bump,” according to NGI’s Pat Rau, director of Strategy & Research. Before June can “challenge major resistance at $2.11” it will need to break through the psychological $2 barrier and then surpass the 50-day moving average at $2.078, according to Rau.
- Flows to Freeport liquefied natural gas terminal ramping up to around 800,000 Dth/d in latest estimates, according to data from NGI’s LNG Export Tracker
Amid operational issues at the plant, volumes bound for Freeport had dropped to negligible levels late last week before climbing Sunday and Monday, flow data show. Estimates as of Monday suggested Freeport “has managed to bring a full train back online,” according to Gelber & Associates analysts. “That said, nominations to the facility have often been inconsistent; more days of data will help to confirm the terminal’s direction.” Total flows to U.S. LNG export terminals climbed around 0.6 million Dth/d for Monday to reach 12.84 million Dth/d, according to data from the LNG Export Tracker.
- Cash prices rebounding, with Henry Hub climbing 15.0 cents to $1.555, per NGI’s MidDay Price Alert
- Mid-Atlantic starting the week with “near-record heat,” according to Maxar’s Weather Desk
Monday’s forecast included highs of 88 degrees for Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, Maxar meteorologist Brad Harvey said on energy chat platform Enelyst. For the 15-day forecast as a whole, Maxar was calling for total degree days to come in lower than normal and lower versus year-earlier conditions, according to Harvey.
- West Texas prices rally sharply as pressure from pipeline disruption eases
- Waha up $1.990 to negative-13.5 cents, per MidDay Price Alert
A partial lifting of restrictions associated with an incident on NGPL (aka Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America LLC) late last week appeared to relieve some of the pressure on Permian Basin natural gas markets Monday. On Friday, NGPL declared a force majeure due to an incident on its Lockridge Lateral in Ward County, TX. The force majeure impacted several locations on NGPL’s Segment 9 in its Permian Zone. According to flow data from Wood Mackenzie, volumes scheduled at the throughput meter for NGPL’s Lockridge Lateral dropped to zero on Friday before rebounding to slightly below pre-force majeure levels. The operator in a subsequent notice Saturday reduced the number of locations impacted following the force majeure event.
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