Nevertheless, “natural gas production is rising even though dry gas rig counts are falling,” Gilbertie said. “This is due to the fact that ‘incidental’ gas production occurs with dedicated gas liquids and crude oil wells, as well as with shale and oil sands oil production.”
“Simply stated, there still seems to be plenty of supply even though demand is rising and dedicated drilling efforts for gas (as reflected in the Baker Hughes rig counts) is falling,” Gilbertie added.
In the short-term, generally mild temperatures have contributed to the recent drop in prices. The U.S. National Weather Service forecasted above-normal temperatures for most of the eastern third of the U.S. over a ten-day period, Commodities News reports. [ETF Chart of the Day: Natural Gas Fracking]
U.S. natural gas storage has been relatively flat, sitting around 0.7% higher than last year’s level. Still, natural gas inventories is 12.4% above its five-year average for this time of the year.
Natural gas futures-based ETFs include:
- United States Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: UNG)
- United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: UNL)
- Teucrium Natural Gas Fund (NYSEArca: NAGS)
United States Natural Gas Fund
For more information on natural gas, visit our natural gas category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.