Nymex Natural Gas Contract at 10-Year Low
Friday, March 30, 2012
Natural gas futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange have slid to a 10-year low following an unexpected jump in U.S. supplies.
Contracts for May delivery fell nearly 6% on Thursday to US$2.15/Mbtu, the lowest settlement since Feb. 6, 2002 and the largest drop since March 1. The contract opened 1.6 cents higher on Friday.
Traders reacted to a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report on Thursday afternoon that gas in storage grew 57 Bcf (1.6 x 109 m3) to 2.4 Tcf (6.8 x 1010 m3) over the previous five days, a level that is 60% above average of the past five years.
EIA said gas demand was up slightly during the report week but was overwhelmed by a 6.5% jump in Canadian gas imports.
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