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First Look - Natural gas trading higher as cold weather re-enters forecast

Aramco raised prices on its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia by $2.40 a barrel to $3.90 a barrel, the largest increase since August 2022
- Crude futures found some support in early trade
- The price hike is attributed to surging premiums for Middle Eastern crude, after sanctions on Russian flows sent Asian refiners looking for alternatives to replace those sanctioned barrels

Oil prices continue to drag
- The news from Saudi Arabia managed to stem the previous day’s sell-off, WTI crude was up 48 cents, or 0.7%, at $71.51
- Oil prices slid by more than 2% on Wednesday as the EIA reported an increase of 8.7 MMBbl in US crude inventories for the week ended January 31

Natural gas is trading higher as cold weather re-enters forecast
- Forecasts shifted colder overnight, with most Lower 48 regions gaining heating demand
  - Temperatures are expected to be below the ten-year average for most of the two-week forecast period
- The EIA is reporting natural gas storage today, with the median Bloomberg estimate calling for a withdrawal of -171 Bcf
- LNG feedgas demand pushed higher to 15.5 Bcf/d, but higher temperatures along the Gulf Coast could be limiting plant efficiency
Mountain Valley pipeline files for North Carolina extension (S&P)
- MVP has asked FERC to approve a modified version of its Southgate Project, designed to extend the pipeline to serve demand in North Carolina
- The modified version involves adding a 31-mile and 550 MMcf/d extension from Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to delivery points in Rockingham County, North Carolina
- Local utilities support the project, citing increasing natural gas power demand and declining coal generation, while environmental groups who opposed the original MVP project are looking to stop the extension