LONDON (Commodity Online): Natural Gas prices continued to soften as the near-term seasonal heating demand remains lacklustre.
The January 2012 contract closed at the lowest level in history, finishing at $3.42/MMBtu, down seven cents. Both calendar 2012 and 2013 sold off on the day, down six cents and five cents, to $3.67 and $4.29, respectively.
The weather outlook for the 6-10 day period became incrementally warmer again, providing little hope that heating demand will pick up in the near term.
The consensus for Thursday's EIA weekly storage number ranges from an injection of 1 Bcf to a withdrawal of 42 Bcf, with an average of a 13Bcf withdrawal.
Cash prices were mostly mixed. Henry Hub inched up two cents, to $3.45, while SoCalBorder came off four cents, to $3.68. Transco-Z6 New York edged higher by five cents, to $3.94.
