Yahoo Finance Natural Gas Prices Falls on the Inventory Report
Natural Gas Market: Understanding Inventory and Rig Count Data
Natural gas price action
This series analyzes natural gas prices and fundamentals. For an in-depth fundamental look at oil and gas and related companies, sectors, and drivers, please refer to our Energy and Power page.
October natural gas futures contracts fell for the second day. Prices fell slightly by 0.37% and settled at $2.65 per MMBtu (British thermal units in millions) on September 17, 2015. Prices fell due to the larger-than-expected inventory increase in the oversupplied natural gas market. The US benchmark following ETFs like the United States Natural Gas Fund LP ETF (UNG) moved in the direction of natural gas prices in Thursday’s trade. UNG fell by 0.40% and settled at $12.56 on September 17, 2015.
The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) published its weekly natural gas in storage report on September 17, 2015. The US agency reported that the US natural gas stockpile rose by 73 Bcf (billion cubic feet) for the week ending September 11, 2015. The industry surveys estimated that the natural gas stockpile could rise by 72 Bcf for the same period. The larger-than-expected inventory increase fueled the oversupply sentiments and natural gas prices fell.
Weather forecasting agency, WSI Corp. reported that warm weather could be experienced across the US over the next ten days. Likewise, warm weather could be experienced in the northern and central parts of the US in the fourth week of September 2015, according to MDA Weather Services. Warm weather may drive the demand for natural gas from electric power plants. It could benefit natural gas prices.
Natural gas prices fell for the fifth time in the last ten days. Prices rose by 0.30% more on the up days than on the down days, over the last ten days. Natural gas futures were the average performer in Thursday’s trade. Prices fell more than 8% YTD (year-to-date) due to the oversupply concerns.
The long-term lower natural gas prices affect oil and gas producers like Cabot Oil & Gas (COG), WPX Energy (WPX), and EXCO Resources (XCO). Combined, they account for 2.68% of the SPDR Oil and Gas ETF (XOP). These stocks’ natural gas production mix is more than 86% of their total production.
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