Natural Gas Rises in New York Toward First Weekly Gain in Five
By Moming Zhou - Feb 25, 2011 9:20 PM GMT+0100 Fri Feb 25 20:20:45 GMT 2011
Natural gas futures rose, gaining for the first week in five, on speculation that an 9 percent price decline this year was enough to boost demand.
Gas for April delivery advanced 3.4 percent as it started trading as a front-month contract today. The March contract expired at $3.793 per million British thermal units yesterday, the lowest settlement price in almost four months, as mild weather crimped demand.
“The market declined yesterday into the expiration of the March contract,” said
Stephen Schork, president of Schork Group Inc., a consulting company in Villanova,
Pennsylvania. “Gas down at the $3.80 range is an attractive level. I would look for a retrace back up to the $4.20 area.”
Natural gas for April delivery rose 13.3 cents to settle at $4.005 per million Btu at 2:37 p.m. on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas futures gained 3.3 percent for the week.
The April contract may move up to $4.40, according to technical analysis of the relative-strength index by Chris Kostas, a senior analyst at Energy Security Analysis Inc.
The index, known as the RSI, for the April futures fell to 31.62 yesterday. Readings near 30 suggest prices will increase, while figures above 70 can be sell signals.
Mild Weather
Temperatures will be as much as 14 degrees Fahrenheit higher than average in the East and Midwest through March 6, according to MDA Federal Inc.’s EarthSat Energy Weather in Rockville,
Maryland.
“The weather is moderating and it’s reducing gas demand,” said Carl Neill, an energy consultant at Risk Management Inc. in Atlanta.
The high temperature in
Washington on Feb. 28 will be 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 Celsius), 18 degrees above normal, according to
AccuWeather Inc. in
State College, Pennsylvania. The high in New York will be 56, 12 degrees above normal.
About 52 percent of U.S. households use natural gas for heating, according to the Energy Department.
Gas storage fell 81 billion cubic feet last week to 1.83 trillion, the smallest withdrawal since the week ended Nov. 26, the department said yesterday.
Inventories were 3.2 percent below the five-year average compared with 6.3 percent the previous week. A deficit to year- earlier supplies narrowed to 2.6 percent from 6.9 percent.
Gas inventories may total 1.651 trillion cubic feet by the end of March, down from 1.662 trillion a year earlier, the Energy Department estimated on Feb. 8 in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook.
Gas futures volume in electronic trading on the Nymex was 237,029 as of 2:40 p.m., compared with the three-month average of 300,000. Volume was 244,979 yesterday. Open interest was 948,058 contracts. The three-month average open interest is 826,000. The exchange has a one-business-day delay in reporting open interest and full volume data.
To contact the reporters on this story: Moming Zhou in
New York at
[email protected];
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at
[email protected].
Traduzione on line delle parti interessanti:
Il gas per la consegna di aprile ha avanzato 3,4 percento poiché ha cominciato il commercio come un contratto di anteriore-mese oggi. Il contratto di marzo ha scaduto a $3,793 per le unità termica inglese di milione ieri, il minimo prezzo di accordo in quasi quattro mesi, poiché il tempo dolce ha increspato la richiesta.
"Il mercato ha declinato ieri nella scadenza del contratto di marzo," ha detto Stephen Schork, il presidente di Gruppo di Schork Inc., una società consulente in Villanova, Pennsylvania. "Il gas giù alla $3,80 gamma è un livello attraente. Cercherei un ripercorre di nuovo fino alla $4,20 area".
Il gas metano per la consegna di aprile è sorto 13,3 centesimi per regolare a $4,005 per Btu di milione a 2:37 del pomeriggio sul New York Scambio Mercantile. I futuri di gas hanno guadagnato 3,3 percento per la settimana.
Il contratto di aprile potrebbe avanzarsi a $4,40, secondo l'analisi tecnica dell'indice di relativo-forza da Chris Kostas, un analista superiore all'Analisi di Sicurezza di Energia Inc.
L'indice, conosciuto come il RSI, per i futuri di aprile è caduto a 31,62 ieri. Le letture vicino a 30 suggeriscono dei prezzi aumenteranno, mentre le figure al di sopra di 70 possono essere vende dei segnali.