Natural gas futures slip 1.46% to Rs 189.40 per mmBtu

Natural gas futures edged lower to Rs 189.40 per mmBtu on August 27 as participants increased their short position as seen by the open interest. Natural gas price has slipped 0.8 percent on August 26  on Nymex.

Market players are awaiting more information on the impact of Hurricane Laura on energy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane has turned into category 4 and heading towards Texas-Louisana region.

Participants are likely to take a further cue from weekly natural gas data to be released by US Energy Information Agency later in the day.

In the futures market, natural gas for September delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 191 and an intraday low of Rs 187.30 per mmBtu on MCX. So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 121.40 and a high of Rs 197.50.

Natural gas delivery for September slipped Rs 2.80, or 1.46 percent, to Rs 189.40 per mmBtu at 14:47 hours IST with a business turnover of 8,001 lots.

Natural gas delivery for October was down Rs 1, or 0.47 percent at Rs 210.40 per mmBtu with a business volume of 1,119 lots.

The value of September and October’s contracts traded so far is Rs 745.68 crore and Rs 22.74 crore, respectively.

Natural gas may witness choppy trade as the impact of the storm will become more evident once it reached the US Coast. However, we may see buying interest emerging at lower levels due to supply disruption, according to Kotak Securities.

At 09:21 (GMT), the natural gas price was down 0.62 percent quoting at $2.55 per mmBtu in New York.