Spot natural gas prices (CFDS ON NATURAL GAS) fell in early trading on Monday, to record new daily losses until the moment of writing this report, by -3.21%. It settled at a price of $5.686 per million British thermal units, after declining during Friday’s trading by an amount of -8.66%, during the last week the price fell by -12.43%.
U.S. natural gas futures fell nearly 7% to a two-week low on Friday, after the restart of the Freeport Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export plant in Texas was delayed, milder weather forecasts and lower demand over the next two weeks than expected. Fair weather allows utilities to leave more gas in storage, gas inventories were about 2.4% below the five-year average (2017-2021) for this time of year.
The expected restart of the Freeport LNG export plant through the end of the year from mid-December is pending regulatory approval.
US gas futures are up about 67% so far this year, as rising global prices fuel demand for US exports due to supply disruptions and sanctions linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Data provider Refinitiv said average gas production in the bottom 48 US states rose to a monthly record of 99.5 bcfd in November, up from 99.2 bcfd in October.
Meanwhile, the Group of Seven caps on Russian seaborne oil prices took effect on Monday, as the West tries to limit Moscow's ability to fund its war in Ukraine. However, Russia said it would not abide by the measure even if it had to cut production.
The price ceiling to be imposed by the Group of Seven countries, the European Union and Australia comes on top of the European Union's ban on Russian crude imports by sea and similar pledges from the United States, Canada, Japan and Britain.
Russian oil is allowed to be shipped to foreign countries using G7 and EU tankers, insurance companies and credit institutions, only if the cargo is purchased at a price or less.
The sale of oil and gas to Europe has been one of Russia's main sources of foreign currency earnings ever since Soviet geologists discovered oil and gas in the swamps of Siberia in the decades after World War II.
Natural Gas Technical Analysis
- Technically, natural gas continued to decline amid negative signals in the relative strength indicators, and under the control of the bearish corrective trend in the short term along the slope line. T
- his is shown in the attached chart for a (daily) period of time, with its recent trades exceeding it to support its simple moving average for the previous 50-day period.
- This doubles the negative pressure on its upcoming trading.
Therefore, our expectations indicate a further decline for natural gas during its upcoming trading, to target the pivotal and nearby 5.310 support level, in preparation for breaking it.
Ready to trade FX Natural Gas? We’ve shortlisted the best commodity trading brokers in the industry for you.