The latest Market Talks covering Energy and Utilities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
1634 ET - U.S. natural gas futures rise sharply as TC Energy declared force majeure on a pipeline in West Virginia after detecting a leak. Nymex natural gas rose 9.1% to $3.297/mmBtu, its biggest single-day gain since January and highest close in three months. The outage affects an estimated 1.8 Bcf/d of natural gas from Appalachia. Prices were also supported by a sixth straight below-average storage build that reduced the inventory surplus over the five-year average to 95 Bcf from 118 Bcf.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1629 ET - Oil futures rose for a second straight session as a spate of Houthi attacks on Saudi targets raised concerns of escalation in the Middle East while the market remains pessimistic about the U.S. and Iran reaching an agreement anytime soon. "You're seeing a lot of turmoil, a lot of uncertainty in the short term," said Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group. "Concerns about rates going up, concerns about the dollar, a lot of nervousness." Fears about a possible U.S diesel export ban are adding uncertainty, he says. WTI settles up 2.7% at $94.61 a barrel and Brent gains 3.4% to $106.60. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
By Anthony Harrup U.S. natural gas futures posted their biggest-single-day gain since January as a pipeline outage Thursday in West Virginia led to supply disruptions.
TC Energy said it detected a natural gas leak at the Saunders Creek Regulator Station in West Virginia around 8:35 a.m. ET and "immediately activated emergency response procedures."
The company said it reduced the pressure of natural gas to isolate the station, and notified customers of delivery impacts. The situation was confined to the Saunders Creek station, TC Energy added.
The outage sent natural gas futures higher, with the October contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange settling up 9.1% at $3.297 per million British thermal units, a three-month high.
Natural gas futures have been gradually rising as a warmer-than-usual September kept up power-sector demand through the tail end of summer, limiting inventory builds. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 53 billion cubic foot injection into storage for last week, a sixth consecutive below-average build that reduced the surplus over the five-year average to 95 Bcf from 118 Bcf the previous week.
Comments