Spot natural gas prices continued to rise in recent trading at intraday levels, to achieve new daily gains until the moment of writing this report, by 1.56%. It settled at the price of 8.420 dollars per million British thermal units, after its rise during trading on Friday. By 5.52%, the price rose for the third consecutive week, by 16.77%.
Nymex futures closed the week on the upside, rising 36.7 cents on Friday to settle at $8,299, up $1,283 from the previous week's settlement of $7,016.
The US government's smaller-than-expected weekly inventory report amplified storage adequacy concerns as it provided evidence that demand for refrigeration is depleting a significant portion of stocks after the extended outage at the Freeport LNG terminal.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported 32 billion cubic feet of natural gas was pumped into the United States during the week ending July 15, a reading that was on the upside from surveys pointing to an injection of up to 40 billion cubic feet.
Meanwhile, Matthew Baldwin, deputy director-general of the European Commission's Energy Department, said on Saturday that the European Union is seeking additional gas supplies from Nigeria, as the bloc prepares for a possible cut in Russian supplies.
Baldwin was speaking in Nigeria where he held meetings with officials from Africa's largest oil producer this week. He was told that Nigeria was improving security in the Niger Delta and was planning to reopen a pipeline through Niger after August, which would result in more gas exports to Europe.
Natural Gas Technical Forecast
Technically, the price continues to rise along a minor bullish slope line in the short term, as shown in the attached chart for a (daily) period. It is supported by its continuous trading above its simple moving average for the previous 50 days. This is in addition to the influx of positive signals on the relative strength indicators, despite reaching severe areas of oversaturation with purchases.
Therefore, our positive expectations surrounding natural gas are still valid, as we expect the price to rise during its upcoming trading, especially as long as it stabilizes above 8.054, to target the pivotal resistance level 9.600.
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