Natural Gas
A hydrocarbon energy commodity priced in $/MMBtu on NYMEX, known for extreme seasonal volatility driven by heating and cooling demand.
Natural gas futures trade on NYMEX with delivery at Henry Hub in Louisiana — the US benchmark pricing point connecting major interstate pipelines. The contract unit is 10,000 MMBtu (one British thermal unit × million).
Natural gas is famously volatile. Prices spike during cold winters (heating demand) and hot summers (power-generation demand for air conditioning), and collapse during mild weather or storage builds. Because gas is expensive to transport across oceans, US gas (Henry Hub) and European gas (TTF) can diverge dramatically.
The EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report is the most watched inventory data release for the market.
On the desk
Front-month Henry Hub natural gas is at $2.75/MMBtu in early September. A polar vortex forecast pushes prices to $4.20 within two weeks — a 53% move driven entirely by demand pull, with no change in production.