Smokestack from the Linden Cogeneration Plant in Linden, New Jersey.
Kina Bettencourt | View Press | Corbis News | Getty Images
Natural gas futures prices rose Monday, hitting a new 52-week high after reports of colder-than-normal temperatures forecast for January.
Natural gas futures for February rose nearly 19% during the session after updated forecasts by The Weather Co and Atmospheric G2 released on Sunday showed the temperature forecast for next month is The weather is expected to be colder than average in the eastSpecifically from Florida to Maine as well as certain parts of the Great Lakes region.
However, the West is expected to see below-average temperatures, according to the report. Notably, the “Four Corners” region — the region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, the southeastern corner of Utah, the northeastern corner of Arizona and the northwestern corner of New Mexico — is expected to be above average.
The report also said cold temperatures in the East could peak by mid-month, and will likely be “well below average” compared to the full-month forecast for the eastern United States. However, it is still unclear how temperatures will stabilize in January and the second half.
In a separate report, AccuWeather meteorologists said cold air could cause this Windy Mode setting, With areas seeing “large amounts of snow and ice” for much of the first half of the month. They added that the decline will begin in the middle and end of next week.
Again Capital's John Kilduff said Monday on CNBC “Cry in the street” We could see a natural gas “freeze” occurring, meaning disruptions to natural gas production flows.
“We're talking (about) the cold weather and the polar vortex, which caused this spike in natural gas this morning,” the company's co-founder said.
The February futures move comes as natural gas — which is used for home heating — has seen big gains recently. The prices of the commodity jumped by about 9% last week and about 58% this year.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures It rose 33 cents to $74.50 a barrel United States West Texas Intermediate The price of crude rose 92 cents to $71.52 per barrel.
