Waha cash hit punishing lows over the weekend period from December 13-15, sinking to an outright price of minus $6.085/MMBtu according to data from Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI). Constraints on outflows to the West on El Paso pipeline and to the East on Permian Highway were a major culprit in these extreme lows. However, the price picture for Permian gas producers without long-term agreements has improved over the past week. For the week ended December 22, outright Waha cash prices averaged negative $0.13/MMBtu, up $1.99/MMBtu week-on-week. Cash prices began the week below zero but rebounded and were back above zero for most of the week. There was a movement back below zero, during trading for delivery over the weekend from December 20-22, but at minus $0.78/MMBtu it was much less severe than the prior weekend's price collapse. Henry Hub cash prices averaged $3.88/MMBtu for the week, down $1.02/MMBtu week-on-week on warming weather forecasts. Stronger prices at Waha and weaker prices at Henry Hub mean that the Waha-Henry spread narrowed considerably over the past week(as seen in the pink line in the chart below).
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