US spot monthly natural gas prices for March increased by 12 cents, or 3.7% on average, to $3.35/MMBtu, compared with the previous month's $3.23/MMBtu average, Inside FERC's Gas Market Report said Friday.
The NYMEX March gas futures contract expired $3.427/MMBtu, up 20.1 cents, or 6.2%, from the February contract's final close of $3.226/MMBtu.
Most price points with reported deals rose compared with the month before, but the Northeast was an exception, as prices at major consuming-region city-gates began to shed winter premiums.
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line zone 6-New York fell $1.85, or 28%, to $4.78/MMBtu. Algonquin Gas Transmission city-gates, meanwhile, declined by 45 cents, or 4.9%, to $8.71/MMBtu -- the highest price in the monthly survey.
Along the Gulf Coast, Henry Hub rose by 20 cents, or 6.2%, to average $3.43/MMBtu, 0.3 cent above the final NYMEX close. Transco zone 3 rose by 21 cents, or 6.5%, to $3.46/MMBtu.
In Texas, Houston Ship Channel and Katy each averaged $3.35/MMBtu, rising 12 cents and 6 cents, respectively.
Major Upper Midwest points traded within several cents of one another in the mid- to upper $3.50s/MMBtu, up 12-17 cents on average. Chicago city-gates rose by 12 cents, or 3.5%, to $3.55/MMBtu.
Field zone deals at Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line rose 1 cent from the month prior for a March index of $3.22/MMBtu. Northwest Pipeline Rocky Mountains slipped 5 cents to $3.23/MMBtu.
California price points were mixed, with the Pacific Gas and Electric city-gate and Southern California Gas city-gate each rising 5 cents, or about 1.4%, to average $3.71/MMBtu and $3.62/MMBtu, respectively. The SoCal Gas border point, meanwhile, declined by 10 cents, or 2.8%, to $3.48/MMBtu.
Volumes for IFGMR's March survey declined to 17,075 million MMBtu/d from February bidweek volumes of 17,851 million MMBtu/d. Transactions used in the survey decreased to 2,773 from 2,798 the month before.
