The April contract was experiencing significant relief with a glimpse of spring temperatures moving across the U.S., until it was time to roll off the board. On March 27th, natural gas futures had their biggest one-day gain since February 19th and the April contract settled at $4.854 per MMBtu. The market had two driving forces that day, one being a bullish storage report with a larger than expected withdrawal that set gas inventories at their lowest level in 11 years. The second driver was most likely from traders who had bet on lower prices, closed out before the contract expired. While pricing movements on expiration days can be isolated incidents, the market is heavily focused on whether or not drillers can produce enough natural gas this summer to refill storage.
