There could huge inventory withdrawn in Dec 30 reports from EIA but moderate weather take the natural gas price down
Natural gas for February delivery recently traded 5.7 cents, or 1.3% lower, at $4.231 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange on its first day as the front-month contract. The January contract expired Tuesday at $4.216/MMBtu.
Last week, 184 billion cubic feet of gas was withdrawn from U.S. storage, more than the average draw for the week, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. Despite the decline, the amount of gas in storage remained 8.5% above the five-year average. This week's inventory report is scheduled for release Thursday at 10:30 a.m. EST.
NYMEX crude for February delivery CLc1 slipped 21 cents to $91.28 a barrel by 0124 GMT, taking back some gains from the previous session. Prices hit a 26-month high of $91.88 on Monday.
* Warmer and mostly sunny weather was forecast for the rest of the week in the U.S. Northeast, the world's top heating oil market, providing much needed relief after a major blizzard snarled Christmas holiday travel.
* The dollar found a steadier footing early in Asia on Wednesday, having staged a sharp reversal from a record low versus the Swiss franc.
U.S. crude oil and distillate inventories were expected to have fallen last week, according to a preliminary survey of analysts on Tuesday. Gasoline stocks were expected to be higher.
* U.S. retail gasoline demand rose 4.6 percent last week versus the previous week, buoyed by holiday travel, MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse report showed. Demand was 3.9 percent higher than levels seen the same week last year.
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