Will Natural Gas Rise This Week?
On April 18–26, natural gas active futures rose 1.8%. Natural gas to closed at $2.58 per MMBtu on April 26.
Nov. 20 2020, Updated 12:38 p.m. ET
Natural gas last week
On April 18–26, natural gas active futures rose 1.8%. The fall in natural gas production and short covering helped natural gas to close at $2.58 per MMBtu (million British thermal units) on April 26—3.6% above the lowest closing level since June 8, 2016.
Natural gas on April 29
At 6:42 AM EST on April 29, natural gas active futures were almost unchanged. The winter storm in April might support the recovery in natural gas during trading. Traders might unwind their possible opposite positions on oil and natural gas—an important development for natural gas’s rise.
Demand data
According to Refinitv data, the demand in the lower 48 US states this week will average ~76.6 Bcf (billion cubic feet) per day—compared to 80.3 Bcf per day last week. On April 25, the natural gas supply in the lower 48 US states was 88.6 Bcf per day—1.6 Bcf per day less than the all-time high.
Impact on energy stocks and ETFs
Any change in natural gas prices could be important for natural gas–weighted stocks like Range Resources (RRC), Cabot Oil & Gas (COG), Antero Resources (AR), and Chesapeake Energy (CHK). Last week, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) fell 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively. These ETFs include natural gas producer stocks that could be sensitive to natural gas prices.
