Market Watch

July natural gas futures jumped 2.3% Wednesday to the low $3.30s per million Btu adding to Tuesday’s 2.1% gain and bringing the mini-rally gain to 4.5%, or 14.2¢. Rising LNG feedstock to above 11 billion cubic feet per day -- while US dry production fell below 90 Bcf/d -- is seen stoking a general bullishness. Additional support is coming from expectations for a below normal storage build (Briefly noted). The prompt month added 7.5¢ to close at $3.333/MMBtu and hit a day high $3.383, the highest prompt month gas price in seven months. The 12-month strip was 5¢ higher at $3.259, while the 2022 calendar strip was up 2.4¢ at $3.032 (Futures contracts). * * * In the daily spot market, SoCal Citygate saw the most significant price move of the day, falling $1.03 to $4.09. This compared to benchmark Henry Hub cash prices that were up 12¢ at $3.34. In the Northeast, Boston-area Algonquin advanced 2¢ to average $2.57. In West Texas, cash prices at the Permian's Waha Hub fell 20¢ to average $2.68. Meanwhile, Rockies leader Kern/Opal rose 21¢ to $3.43 and Northwest Sumas gained 11¢ to average $3.29. In Canada, Alberta benchmark Aeco rose 6¢ to $2.62 (Daily spot prices). * * * August WTI crude closed up 23¢ at $73.08 per barrel on its first day as prompt month following an Energy Information Administration report showing US crude inventories fell twice as hard as expected. The EIA reported a 7.6 million-barrel decline in crude inventories against expectations for a 3.9 million-barrel drop. The EIA also reported that gasoline stocks rose by 2.9 million barrels, while an 833,000-barrel build decline was expected. Distillates, including heating oil and diesel, rose by 1.8 million barrels against an expected 1.1 million-barrel build.