Natural gas for the CY2016 strip has now officially settled. After the bears drove the December contract down to $2.546 per MMBtu with an above-average November and record high storage levels, the bulls managed to gain momentum heading into Thanksgiving and the market saw December settle at $3.232 per MMBtu. December was the only month in 2016 to settle above the $3.00 mark and CY2016 averaged $2.460 per MMBtu. As the January contract, has now moved into the prompt position, the bulls took advantage of a slightly larger-than-average withdrawal from storage this past week and January quickly ran to $3.568 per MMBtu. At the end of the week, the January contract appears to have stalled and settled the day down at $3.436, but more than 7% above where it settled last week. Traders appear to have taken profits after such a dramatic rally in pricing, but forecasts of falling temperatures and increased demand of natural gas for heating has been the boost this market has needed to surpass key resistance levels. The market is looking for these cold winter temperatures to draw down the surplus of natural gas currently in storage.
