US natural gas prices once again stole the spotlight in the energy markets on Wednesday as gas prices struck another record high following forecasts of cooler weather in North America.
November Nymex Henry Hub natural gas prices hit a record high of $14.75 per million British thermal units, before easing back to $14.35 in afternoon New York trade, up 14 cents on the day. Henry Hub is a gas interchange connecting to major pipelines across the US.
Nymex gas futures for January, seen as the peak demand month for gas, hit a record $15.60 per m/btu. The gains in natural gas prices came ahead of today’s release of US natural gas inventory data.
In the crude oil markets, IPE Brent for November delivery fell $1.10 to settle at $60.12 a barrel in London trading. November West Texas Intermediate lost $1.11 to close at $62.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Petroleum product prices also fell in spite of the latest weekly US crude inventory report showing US refinery output at its lowest level since at least 1990 due to the recent damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Nymex November gasoline futures fell 5.32 cents to $1.9625 a gallon, and Nymex November heating oil futures dropped 0.47 cents to $2.0450 a gallon.
The weekly report showed that US refineries operated at 69.8 per cent of their operable capacity last week, with petrol and distillate fuel production falling dramatically, averaging 7.5m barrels a day and 3m b/d, respectively.
It said US commercial crude oil inventories fell by 0.3m barrels from the previous week as oil imports fell to 8.1m b/d, 1.6m b/d lower than the previous week.
As a result of the lower refinery runs, total US petrol inventories dropped by 4.3m barrels last week, putting them just above the lower end of the average range. Distillate fuel inventories fell by 5.6m barrels last week and are just above the middle of the average range for this time of year.
The report also showed that demand for petrol, distillates and jet fuel are all down over the past four-week period compared with a year ago.
Copper prices hit a record high for the second successive day with the three-month copper price peaking at $3,890 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, up $52 on the previous close.
The latest burst in copper prices follows supply disruptions in Canada, due to strike action, and in Zambia, where fuel shortages forced power cuts, shutting down some copper mines.
After falling earlier in the day, gold rebounded in London trade to $465.90/$466.60 a troy ounce, 20 cents down on the late quote in New York on Tuesday.
