Editor's Note:
Taking the lead from the June gas contract that rolled off the board in the prior session with a 6.4-cent decline to finish at $2.875/MMBtu, NYMEX July natural gas futures were near unchanged overnight ahead of the Wednesday, May 30, open amid indecisive fundamentals. At 6:40 a.m. ET, the contract was 0.2 cent lower at $2.901/MMBtu.
Concerns over the lingering storage deficits carrying over into the summer cooling season continue to plague the market, but mixed weather-related demand outlooks that should limit cooling demand combined with an impending boost to production implied by the recent uptrend in rig count allays the worries as it looks to allow for natural gas to move more freely into underground stocks going forward.
Natural gas inventories total 1,629 Bcf, still 804 Bcf below the year-ago level and 499 Bcf below the five-year average of 2,128 Bcf after the U.S. Energy Information Administration outlined a 91-Bcf build during the week ended May 18 that was a step down from season's first triple-digit injection in the week prior.
Calls for returning mild weather over key consuming regions in forecasts despite heat elsewhere in the country, however, look to keep a lid on cooling demand that would allow natural gas inventories to rebuild at a healthy pace in the coming weeks.
Updated National Weather Service projections show average to below-average temperatures stretching from a majority of the country's eastern third into the fringes of the west-central U.S., much of the Northwest and the northern tip of California in the six- to 10-day period before shrinking in scope in the West to be contained to a corner of Montana but overtaking more of the Midwest and lingering over the bulk of the eastern third in the eight- to 14-day period. Above-average temperatures settle elsewhere in the country.
Feeding anticipation of a growth in production, Baker Hughes' weekly U.S. gas and oil rig count data outlined an increase of 13 rigs in the week to May 25 to a total of 1,059.
Price action for natural gas Tuesday for Wednesday flow had a mixed tenor.
Looking at the key hubs, a better-than-15-cent gain drove Transco Zone 6 NY cash gas pricing to an index at $2.800/MMBtu. Conversely, a near 6-cent decline steered Chicago next-day gas price activity to an average at $2.618/MMBtu, as an approximately 5-cent reduction took PG&E Gate hub action to an index at $3.010/MMBtu and a roughly 4-cent slump nudged benchmark Henry Hub spot gas pricing to an average at $2.838/MMBtu.

On a regional basis, Northeast day-ahead gas prices rose almost 15 cents to an index at $2.531/MMBtu, as Midwest spot gas price action notched a roughly 13-cent decrease in trades averaging at $2.478/MMBtu. West Coast next-day gas pricing climbed about 8 cents to an index at $2.043/MMBtu, while Gulf Coast cash gas price activity shed near 6 cents on the session to average at $2.770/MMBtu.

Market prices and included industry data are current as of the time of publication and are subject to change. For more detailed market data, including power and natural gas index prices, as well as forwards and futures, visit our Commodities pages.
