Natural Gas Market Note | 03.17.2026
Natural gas steady in the wake of Monday's declines.
NYMEX natural gas futures finished Tuesday little changed as market participants awaited further direction. Prices were up very modestly across the curve, and the market continues to show relative stability. Contracts through 2028 are all within 15 cents of month-ago levels.
The brief cold snap early this week is reaching its crescendo in the middle of the country today and is expected to dissipate after impacting the East Coast tomorrow. On a population-weighted HDD basis, today and tomorrow are expected to rival some of the cold seen in mid-February. This short but relatively intense event could yield a material net storage draw for the week ending Friday, March 20.
However, from there, temperatures are expected to warm considerably across the eastern half of the country. The much warmer-than-normal weather already encompassing the West is expected to spread across nearly the entire U.S. by this weekend before some slight cold anomalies reappear in the Northeast for the final stretch of the month.
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