The NYMEX January natural gas futures contract settled 15.3 cents lower at $3.648/MMBtu Thursday, after weekly figures from the US Energy Information Administration showed an unexpected storage injection.
"Two things have pushed the price lower -- moderate weather forecasts for the first half of December and surprise storage build" that reminds market participants that there is still a record storage level, said IAF Advisors director Kyle Cooper. For the week that ended on Friday, EIA estimated a build of 4 Bcf, compared with consensus estimates by analysts of a net withdrawal between 9 Bcf and 13 Bcf. The January contract quickly lost its "contango premium" as it moved in the prompt month position amid mild weather forecasts, said Drew Wozniak, ICAP Energy vice president.
The contract traded Thursday between $3.637/MMBtu and $3.815/MMBtu.
