Gold prices near 3-week lows as stronger dollar, trade progress weigh
Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices slumped Thursday, weighed by forecasts for milder weather and growing supply.
At 11:15 ET (15:15 GMT), natural gas prices fell 4.9% to $4.037 per million British thermal units, or MMBtu, but still remained over 13% higher so far this year.
Wintery conditions in North America as well as reports that U.S. natural gas reserves are significantly lower than normal at this time of the year had provided support earlier this month.
However, this cold weather has largely dissipated in North America, with meteorologists projecting that weather in the Lower 48 states would remain largely normal through April 4, with spring conditions emerging.
Additionally, gas stockpiles, while still around 11% below normal levels for this time of year after extreme cold weather in January and February, had made something of a recovery over the last few days.
In Europe, natural gas prices edged higher, after posting strong gains yesterday amid fading hopes for a partial resumption in Russian gas flows to Europe. Russia failed to agree to an unconditional ceasefire with Ukraine; it only agreed to stop attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days.
The global LNG market appears to be at a significant turning point after years of constrained supply and sluggish demand growth, according to analysts at Bernstein.
This year will mark the beginning of a major shift in the gas cycle, driven by a substantial increase in supply capacity and a more dynamic demand environment across key regions.
After two years of stagnant growth, global LNG demand is projected to rise by 4.5% in 2025 to 412 million tonnes per annum, up from 394 in 2024.
The primary drivers of this growth are increased consumption in Asia and restocking of gas inventories in Europe.