GAS PRICE: NEAR $3.5

PLATTS - The NYMEX February natural gas futures contract jumped 49.2 cents in trading Monday to settle at $3.591/MMBtu with colder weather forecast for the eastern half of the US toward the end of the month.

The 49.2-cent increase is the highest day-on-day jump for the NYMEX front-month contract since November 14.

Monday's surge also puts the front-month contract comfortably above $3/MMBtu, which it has only hit three times since the start of January.

Looking along the curve, NYMEX forward prices rose across the entire 2019 strip in Monday's trading.

The uptick in prices could be tied to forecasts of colder weather, with the most recent National Weather Service six- to 10-day and eight- to 14-day outlooks showing a likelihood of cooler-than-average weather from the Midwest to the East Coast, potentially giving US demand a boost.

Platts Analytics projects US demand to average 105.9 Bcf/d over the next 14 days, an uptick that could bring January demand closer to year-ago levels.

US demand has averaged 95.4 Bcf/d so far this month from 112.7 Bcf/d a year ago, Platts Analytics data shows.

Although US demand has been lower year on year, LNG feedgas volumes have nearly doubled, with Platts Analytics putting LNG feedgas at 4.8 Bcf/d month to date, up from 2.5 Bcf/d a year earlier.

High production in the US has continued through the month, with Platts Analytics data showing the US dry production has averaged 85 Bcf/d so far in January, a 12.7% year-on-year increase.

The NYMEX settlement price is considered preliminary and subject to change until a final settlement price is posted at 7 pm EST (0000 GMT Tuesday).

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Earlier: 

2019, January, 9, 11:05:00 U.S. GAS UP EIA - In 2018, the average annual Henry Hub natural gas spot price increased to $3.16 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), up 15 cents from the 2017 average.

2019, January, 7, 09:30:00 EUROPE'S GAS PRICES DOWN BLOOMBERG - “The question is how much gas Russia ends up delivering into the European markets -- that will be a key determinant,” said Murray Douglas, research director for European gas at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. “Russia expressed publicly it wants to keep deliveries. That could generate a real collapse in prices in the summer months, when we will see a big LNG supply.”

2018, December, 10, 08:40:00 U.S. GAS PRICES UP AGAIN U.S. EIA - On November 23, the natural gas spot price at the Henry Hub in Louisiana was $4.70 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), the highest price since a temporary spike in January 2018, and before that, the highest price since June 2014.

2018, December, 3, 11:50:00 U.S. GAS PRODUCTION UP BY 13.8% U.S. EIA - In September 2018, for the 17th consecutive month, dry natural gas production increased year to year for the month. The preliminary level for dry natural gas production in September 2018 was 2,590 billion cubic feet (Bcf), or 86.3 Bcf/d. This level was 10.5 Bcf/d (13.8%) higher than the September 2017 level of 75.8 Bcf/d.

2018, November, 19, 11:25:00 U.S. GAS PRICES UP REUTERS - Next-day natural gas prices for Friday at the Sumas hub on the border between Washington state and British Columbia quadrupled to a record high on forecasts for cooler, near-normal weather in the Pacific Northwest and declining pipeline flows from Canada.

2018, November, 7, 10:55:00 UKRAINE'S GAS PRICE: +23% INTERFAX-UKRAINE - The final price of gas for households (taking into account transportation, distribution costs and VAT) will be UAH 8,548.92 per 1,000 cubic meters (a rise of 22.9% on the price that is in effect since April 1, 2017), and for municipal heat supply enterprises – UAH 8,361.85 per 1,000 cubic meters (a rise of 22.8%).

2018, October, 22, 11:45:00 UKRAINE'S GAS PRICES UP 23.5% CNBC - Ukraine announced on Friday it would raise household gas prices by nearly a quarter as Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman warned that the country risked default if it crashed out of its International Monetary Fund aid program.