Natural Gas Market Note | 03.19.2026
Prices finish well off of intraday highs as bullish sentiment cools.
Natural gas futures finished the day higher, but the forward curve ended well off the intraday highs reached early in the session. The April 2026 contract increased by about 10 cents to settle at $3.17 per MMBtu on Thursday. That contract traded as high as $3.27 per MMBtu this morning before trending lower for most of the remainder of the day. Summer 2026 rose by a slightly lesser degree, while Winter 2026–27 continued to see the most pronounced upward pressure on the curve. The winter strip at one point this morning tested its seasonal highs above $4.70 per MMBtu, first reached during the January cold snap.
The U.S. natural gas market continued to take directional cues from the broader energy complex. Crude oil also finished the day well off its highs, with prompt-month WTI again failing to sustain momentum above $100 per barrel. Absent any clear escalation or new attacks from Iran, energy markets appeared to let their guard down somewhat on Thursday afternoon.
This morning’s storage report was largely overlooked by market participants, as news of the first net injection of the year had little to no impact on price direction. The EIA reported a 35-Bcf build into inventories, flipping stocks back to a surplus versus the five-year average for the first time since the historic drawdowns associated with the January winter storm. Entering the final stretch of the official winter season, inventories are on track to head into summer at healthy levels.
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