Natural Gas Market Note | 04.16.2026
Forward pricing edges higher surrounding storage report.
Natural gas futures finished marginally higher on Thursday, with the prompt-month May 2026 contract adding about 4 cents to settle near $2.65 per MMBtu. This marks the strongest single-day increase for prompt-month gas in more than a week, an indication of how quiet trading has been for most of April. Similar gains were recorded further out the curve, with Winter 2026-27, Summer 2027, and Winter 2027-28 also increasing by an average of $0.04 per MMBtu.
Today’s gains came despite a relatively strong storage build. The 59-Bcf injection announced for the first full week of April came in stronger than historical benchmarks, widening the surplus to last year and the five-year average. The lack of any meaningful continued downside momentum in recent days could suggest that bearish sentiment is running out, even as temperature patterns are forecast to remain mild for the next two weeks.
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