US spot monthly natural gas prices for July increased by 25 cents, or 10.4% on average, to $2.65/MMBtu compared with the previous month's $2.40/MMBtu average, Inside FERC's Gas Market Report said Monday.
All price points with reported deals gained ground for the month, following on the heels of the NYMEX July gas futures contract. With traders anticipating above-average temperatures at the start of the month, the contract rallied over much of bidweek, closing at $2.774/MMBtu, up 34.5 cents from the June contract's final close of $2.429/MMBtu.
Northeast price points gained the most ground for the month. Tennessee Gas Pipeline zone 6 jumped 76 cents, or 27%, to $3.58/MMBtu. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line zone 6-New York rose a more modest 36 cents, or 13.3%, to $3.07/MMBtu for July.
Along the Gulf Coast, benchmark Henry Hub averaged $2.77/MMBtu, up 35 cents, or 14.5%, and 0.4 cent below the final NYMEX close. Transco zone 3 also rose by 35 cents, or 14.5%, to $2.76/MMBtu.
Chicago city-gates July rose by 20 cents, or 7.7%, to a $2.79/MMBtu index. Michigan Consolidated Gas city-gate climbed by 26 cents, or 10.2%, to $2.80/MMBtu, while Consumers Energy city-gate increased 30 cents, or 11.9%, to $2.82/MMBtu.
In the Midcontinent, Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line rose by 21 cents, or 8.7%, to $2.62/MMBtu.
The rise was not as pronounced in the Rocky Mountain region, where Northwest Pipeline Rockies rose by 12 cents, or 5.2%, to $2.44/MMBtu. Colorado Interstate Gas also averaged $2.44/MMBtu for July after rising 18 cents, or 8%.
On the West Coast, Southern California Gas increased by 24 cents, or 9.1%, to $2.88/MMBtu, and Pacific Gas and Electric city-gate averaged $3/MMBtu for July after rising by 19 cents, or 6.8%.
Volumes for IFGMR's July survey declined to 16,593 million MMBtu/d from June bidweek volumes of 19,340 million MMBtu/d. Transactions used in the survey dropped to 2,652 from 3,026 the month before.
