Commodity Roundup: Natural gas rises ahead of inventory data, oil extends losses

Natural gas futures (NG1:COM) rose on Thursday to $1.76/MMBtu, after falling in the previous session, as traders looked ahead to the weekly natural gas storage report, while oil futures fell for a fourth straight session.

Weak demand remains a concern for natural gas markets. At the same time, production cuts did not bring significant changes to supply/demand balance. Analysts forecast U.S. utilities added 54 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas into storage last week, less than a 75 bcf increase in the same week last year.

On the company side, Kinder Morgan (KMI) on Wednesday reaffirmed its annual profit outlook and said it expects demand for natural gas to grow substantially between now and 2030. The pipeline and terminal operator had said in January it continues to have a bullish outlook for natural gas demand due to demand from LNG export facilities and increased exports from Mexico.

The forecast comes at a time when natural gas futures (NG1:COM) are down 35% so far this year.

Meanwhile, TC Energy (TRP) does not anticipate any service interruptions from the rupture of its NGTL gas pipeline in Alberta, Canada, which caused a wildfire on Tuesday.

The company said it was working with regulatory agencies to investigate the incident and that once the site was confirmed to be safe, survey crews and an environmental inspector would make assessments to inform repair and restoration planning.

Oil prices extended their decline to a fourth-straight session, as demand worries outweighed Middle East supply risks.

Brent Crude (CO1:COM), often considered the global benchmark for oil, was down -1.00% to $86.41/bbl by 6 am ET.

The Energy Information Administration reported a fourth straight weekly build in U.S. commercial crude inventories, up by a higher than expected 2.7M barrels for the week ended April 12.

JPM Commodities Research in a note said, it estimates that worldwide oil consumption so far in April averaged 101.0 mbd. On a year-over-year basis, demand growth in April is tracking at 1.46 mbd against the Bank’s expectations of a 1.7 mbd increase. From the start of the year, global oil demand rose by 1.7 mbd compared to the same period last year.

Markets also assessed a hawkish shift in tone from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on U.S. rates.

Recent Commodity Price Movements and A look At Some ETFs