Gas Prices Are Plunging and Traders Are Still Bullish on Winter
- Survey shows traders and analysts expect futures to climb
- Shrinking gas supply seen as continuing to be supportive
This article is for subscribers only.
After benchmark U.S. natural gas prices tumbled 22% in the past week, you could be forgiven for thinking that traders would be gloomy. Yet many of them remain upbeat as they look past the selloff to a winter rally.
While the most-active futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped below $2 per per million British thermal units in recent days, futures for delivery in December through March continue to trade above $3. Almost half of respondents in a Bloomberg News survey of traders and analysts say winter prices could rise even higher that, perhaps testing $4 or more, a level not seen for years.