The NYMEX April natural gas futures contract settled at $2.302/MMBtu Wednesday, 5.4 cents below Tuesday's close, on a combination of bearish fundamentals.
The last time a prompt-month contract settled below $2.302/MMBtu was on February 15, 2002, when it closed at $2.206/MMBtu.
"What happened on Wednesday is a continuation of a long-term trend," said Hamza Khan, an analyst with the Schork Group. "Temperatures 15 degrees above normal are expanding into Midwest," he added.
According to analysts, warm weather forecasts are limiting the chances of higher storage pulls, and the market is likely to exit withdrawal season with heavy surpluses against the year-ago and five-year-average levels.
The April contract traded Wednesday in a $2.281/MMBtu to $2.343/MMBtu range.
