May Natural Gas Bidweek Prices Fall; New Chicago Indexes Show LDC Differentials, NGI Reports
05 May 2015 - 12:41AM
Business Wire
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.
To read more insightful stories like this one, sign up for NGI's
free 7-day trial here: www.naturalgasintel.com/trial
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