(Before It's News)
MTECHTIPS:-U.S. natural gas futures track oil prices lower in early trade
U.S. natural gas futures were lower in early North American trade on Monday, tracking weakness in oil prices and as last week’s short-covering rally ebbed. Natural gas for delivery in April on the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped 2.0 cents, or 1.1%, to trade at $1.802 per million British thermal units by 12:50 GMT, or 8:50AM ET. Prices fell by as much as 2.79% earlier to an intraday low of $1.771. Sentiment in the energy complex took a hit as oil prices pulled back sharply from last week’s three-month highs after Iran dashed hopes that there would be a coordinated production freeze any time soon. Brent crude futures fell back below $40 a barrel, while U.S. crude was down almost 2% after Iran’s oil minister said it would only join the output freeze group once they reached production of 4 million barrels a day. Prices came under additional pressure as last week’s impressive technical rally appeared to come to an end. Natural gas futures surged 19.4 cents, or 9.36%, last week, as traders closed out bets on lower prices after futures held above key support levels. Natural gas prices rose nearly 12% since falling to $1.611 on March 4, a level not seen since August 1998, as a failure to break below $1.610 prompted market players to cover short positions amid bullish chart signals. Losses were limited amid indications of reduced U.S. shale drilling activity. Baker Hughes said late Friday that the number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the U.S. decreased by three last week to 94, the lowest level since at least 1987. The number of U.S. drilling rigs is viewed as a proxy for activity in the energy industry. A lower rig count is usually a bullish sign as it signals potentially lower production in the future.
WWW.MTECHTIPS.COM
07489294118-119
Register
Newsletter
If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:
