May bidweek prices overall traveled a downward path, but follow-on daily spot trading immediately picked up with growing heat and production shut-ins on the horizon, according to price reports by Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI).

Most points fell anywhere from a nickel to a dime. The NGI May National Bidweek Average, dragged down by bottoming northeastern prices, came out at $2.29, down 6 cents from April. Buyers were all smiles, as those who indexed their bidweek purchases to the slumping May Henry Hub futures contract were able to notch deals near 34-month lows as it withered off the board at $2.517.

Then in the two days of trading following the April 28 May contract expiration, the June futures contract bounded higher by more than 21 cents, spurred by a relatively bullish storage report and confirmation of growing price-related production shut-ins.

Of the heavily traded points, Michcon posted the only bidweek gain, up a miserly penny at $2.73, and Algonquin Citygates endured the greatest loss, down 95 cents to $2.33. Close behind was Tennessee Zone 6 200 L with a drop of 85 cents to $2.45.

In their debut, NGI’s four new Chicago Citygate breakout indexes showed why the market asked for this additional price granularity, as deliveries into NIPSCO averaged $2.58 versus just $2.49 into Nicor Gas. The rolled up Chicago Citygate index, which continues to be a weighted average of deliveries into the four LDC systems that serve the greater Chicagoland area, as it was before NGI introduced the individual Nicor, NIPSCO, North Shore, and Peoples price listings, averaged $2.52, down 14 cents from last month. For more details on these and other NGI Price Index enhancements, please see: naturalgasintel.com/pr-notice

Regionally, West Texas/SE New Mexico saw the greatest setback, 13 cents to $2.32, but four regions were down 8-9 cents: the Midwest, South Louisiana, North Louisiana/Arkansas and East Texas to $2.63, $2.47, $2.44 and $2.44, respectively. The Northeast came in at a 6 cent decline to $1.91, and California fell a nickel to $2.52.

The outlook was brighter for spot prices next week, with temps in the 80's expected to hit major eastern population centers by Monday. And several pipelines and producers reported price-related production shut-ins continuing into the next quarter.

Williams said Thursday some of its transportation customers including Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. plan to curtail 300-500 MMcf/d for five or six months. While management with National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. said the exploration arm Seneca Resources Corp. curtailed 150 MMcfe/d in the fiscal second quarter after shutting in 200 MMcf/d early this year. Click Here to Continue Reading.

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NGI has been an independent voice delivering real-time news and price survey reports for the natural gas market since 1981 in its publications: Natural Gas Intelligence Daily Gas Price Index, Weekly Gas Price Index, and NGI’s Shale Daily. Relied on by industry and government since 1988, NGI data is the industry’s lowest cost essential data available on conventional and unconventional natural gas pricing.

Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI)Stephen Bean, 703-318-8848Stephen.Bean@naturalgasintel.com