Natural gas futures slips to Rs 219 per mmBtu, down nearly 12% this week

Natural gas futures traded lower at Rs 218.60 per mmBtu on November 6 as participants increased their short positions as seen by the open interest. Natural gas price had declined 3.4 percent yesterday on the NYMEX.

Natural gas has corrected 11.74 percent during the week having traded in red on all five days on the MCX.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US natural gas inventories decreased by 36 billion cubic feet (bcf) for the week ended October 30, the first decline in 7 months.

Natural gas has been weighed down by forecast of warmer weather in the US limiting the heating demand

In the futures market, natural gas for November delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 218.90 and an intraday low of Rs 216 per mmBtu on MCX. So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 216 and a high of Rs 251.30.

Natural gas delivery for November edged lower Rs 3.10, or 1.40 percent, to Rs 218.60 per mmBtu at 14:26 hours IST with a business turnover of 14,671 lots.

Natural gas delivery for December slipped Rs 2.60, or 1.12 percent, to Rs 229.80 per mmBtu with a business volume of 1,450 lots.

The value of November and December’s contracts traded so far is Rs 1,282.63 crore and Rs 34.42 crore, respectively.

Natural gas has corrected sharply in the last few days and it is possible we may see some consolidation before next major move, said Kotak Securities.

At 08:58 (GMT), the natural gas price fell marginally 0.03 percent quoting at $2.94 per mmBtu in New York.