Today in Energy
Recent Today in Energy analysis of natural gas markets is available on the EIA website.
Market Highlights:
(For the week ending Wednesday, December 10, 2025)Prices
- Henry Hub spot price: The Henry Hub spot price fell 26 cents from $4.87 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $4.61/MMBtu yesterday.
- Henry Hub futures price: The price of the January 2026 NYMEX contract decreased 40 cents, from $4.995/MMBtu last Wednesday to $4.595/MMBtu yesterday. The price of the 12-month strip averaging January 2026 through December 2026 futures contracts declined 23 cents to $4.072/MMBtu.
- Select regional spot prices: Natural gas spot prices fell at most all locations this report week (Wednesday, December 3, to Wednesday, December 10), with the largest decrease of $4.97 at the Algonquin Citygate. However, prices rose $2.43 at the Transco Zone 6 NY hub, a key benchmark for deliveries into New York City, due to sustained cold weather and high pipeline network utilization.
- Prices were mixed in the Northeast this report week in anticipation of colder weather moving into the region. At the Transco Zone 6 NY trading point for New York City, the price increased $2.43 from $6.02/MMBtu last Wednesday to $8.45/MMBtu yesterday. This hub also reported an intra-week high of $12.11/MMBtu on December 8, which is the highest December daily price there since 2022. The Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company issued a critical operational flow order effective December 10, reducing flexibility in Zone 6 of its system and contributing upward pressure to prices at the Zone 6 NY trading hub. Temperatures in the New York-Central Park Area averaged 33°F this report week, which resulted in 224 heating degree days (HDDs), 41 more than the previous report week and 59 above average. The spot price at Eastern Gas South, a key liquid trading point in the Appalachian Basin, fell 16 cents from $4.38/MMBtu last Wednesday to $4.22/MMBtu yesterday. Overall natural gas consumption in the Northeast increased by 20% (3.3 billion cubic feet per day [Bcf/d]), according to LSEG Data, led by a 26% (2.4 Bcf/d) increase in consumption in the residential and commercial sector to meet space heating demand. Natural gas flows from the South Central region to East region increased 20% (8.5 Bcf/d) to meet this additional demand.
- International futures prices: International natural gas futures prices decreased this report week. According to Bloomberg Finance, L.P., weekly average front-month futures prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes in East Asia decreased 18 cents to a weekly average of $10.85/MMBtu. Natural gas futures for delivery at the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands decreased 41 cents to a weekly average of $9.24/MMBtu. In the same week last year (week ending December 11, 2024), the prices were $15.04/MMBtu in East Asia and $14.11/MMBtu at TTF. Top
Daily spot prices by region are available on the EIA website.
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
- Vessels departing U.S. ports: Forty LNG vessels with a combined LNG-carrying capacity of 151 billion cubic feet (Bcf) departed the United States between December 4 and December 10, according to shipping data provided by Bloomberg Finance, L.P.:
- Ten tankers from Sabine Pass
- Eight from Plaquemines
- Six from Corpus Christi
- Five each from Cameron and Freeport
- Three from Calcasieu Pass
- Two from Cove Point
- One from Elba Island
Rig Count
- According to Baker Hughes, for the week ending Tuesday, December 2, the natural gas rig count decreased by 1 rig from a week ago to 129 rigs. The Eagle Ford dropped one rig. The number of oil-directed wells increased by 6 rigs from a week ago to 413 rigs. Six rigs were added among unidentified producing regions. The total rig count, which includes 7 miscellaneous rigs, now stands at 549 rigs, 40 fewer than at this time last year.
Storage
- Net withdrawals from storage totaled 177 Bcf for the week ending December 5, compared with the five-year (2020–24) average net withdrawals of 89 Bcf and last year's net withdrawals of 167 Bcf during the same week. Working natural gas stocks totaled 3,746 Bcf, which is 103 Bcf (3%) more than the five-year average and 28 Bcf (1%) lower than last year at this time.
See also:
Top
| Spot Prices ($/MMBtu) | Thu, 04-Dec |
Fri, 05-Dec |
Mon, 08-Dec |
Tue, 09-Dec |
Wed, 10-Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Hub |
4.91 |
5.20 |
5.01 |
4.76 |
4.61 |
| New York |
7.40 |
8.72 |
12.11 |
6.54 |
8.45 |
| Chicago |
4.48 |
4.78 |
4.39 |
4.28 |
4.32 |
| Cal. Comp. Avg.* |
4.32 |
4.20 |
3.94 |
3.54 |
3.27 |
| *Avg. of NGI's reported prices for: Malin, PG&E Citygate, and Southern California Border Avg. | |||||
| Data source: NGI's Daily Gas Price Index | |||||
| Rigs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Tue, December 02, 2025 |
Change from |
||
|
last week
|
last year
|
||
| Oil rigs |
413
|
1.5%
|
-14.3%
|
| Natural gas rigs |
129
|
-0.8%
|
26.5%
|
| Note: Excludes any miscellaneous rigs | |||
| Rig numbers by type | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Tue, December 02, 2025 |
Change from |
||
|
last week
|
last year
|
||
| Vertical |
15
|
36.4%
|
7.1%
|
| Horizontal |
476
|
0.2%
|
-9.5%
|
| Directional |
58
|
0.0%
|
18.4%
|
| Data source: Baker Hughes Company |
|||
| Working gas in underground storage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Stocks billion cubic feet (Bcf) |
||||
| Region |
2025-12-05 |
2025-11-28 |
change |
|
| East |
843 |
888 |
-45 |
|
| Midwest |
1,030 |
1,088 |
-58 |
|
| Mountain |
277 |
288 |
-11 |
|
| Pacific |
306 |
315 |
-9 |
|
| South Central |
1,290 |
1,345 |
-55 |
|
| Total |
3,746 |
3,923 |
-177 |
|
|
Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Form EIA-912, Weekly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report Note: Totals may not equal sum of components because of independent rounding. | ||||
| Working gas in underground storage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Historical comparisons |
|||||
Year ago 12/5/24 |
5-year average 2020-2024 |
||||
| Region | Stocks (Bcf) |
% change |
Stocks (Bcf) |
% change |
|
| East |
864 |
-2.4 |
861 |
-2.1 |
|
| Midwest |
1,064 |
-3.2 |
1,049 |
-1.8 |
|
| Mountain |
283 |
-2.1 |
230 |
20.4 |
|
| Pacific |
303 |
1.0 |
276 |
10.9 |
|
| South Central | 1,259 |
2.5 |
1,227 |
5.1 |
|
| Total | 3,774 |
-0.7 |
3,643 |
2.8 |
|
| Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Form EIA-912, Weekly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report
Note: Totals may not equal sum of components because of independent rounding. |
|||||
| Temperature – heating & cooling degree days (week ending Dec 04) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HDDs |
CDDs |
|||||||
| Region | Current total |
Deviation from normal |
Deviation from last year |
Current total |
Deviation from normal |
Deviation from last year |
||
| New England | 219 |
18 |
-4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
| Middle Atlantic | 222 |
31 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
| E N Central | 283 |
63 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
| W N Central | 307 |
60 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
| South Atlantic | 178 |
45 |
11 |
8 |
-2 |
3 |
||
| E S Central | 199 |
62 |
16 |
0 |
-1 |
0 |
||
| W S Central | 139 |
39 |
33 |
1 |
-3 |
0 |
||
| Mountain | 215 |
7 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
||
| Pacific | 100 |
-9 |
11 |
0 |
-1 |
0 |
||
| United States | 208 |
36 |
14 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
||
|
Data source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Note: HDDs=heating degree days; CDDs=cooling degree days | ||||||||
Average temperature (°F)
7-day mean ending Dec 04, 2025
Data source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Deviation between average and normal temperature (°F)
7-day mean ending Dec 04, 2025
Data source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Monthly U.S. dry shale natural gas production by formation is available in the
Short-Term Energy Outlook.