The NYMEX February natural gas futures contract tumbled 20.5 cents to a $2.889/MMBtu settlement as the market reacted to a smaller-than-expected gas storage withdrawal report and continued mild winter weather. Wednesday’s settlement price was the first time a front-month package closed below $3/MMBtu since September 25, 2012, and Wednesday’s settle was the lowest since September 24, 2012, when the prompt-month package settled at $2.837/MMBtu. Wednesday’s settlement price represents a slide of $1.60, or about 36%, since a recent prompt-month peak of $4.489/MMBtu on November 20. Phil Flynn, Price Futures Group senior market analyst, said a number of factors contribute to the natural gas’ stumble on Wednesday. “Obviously, the inventory report was very bearish, and the weather up until now has been warmer than normal, but in a larger sense, what is happening in oil prices is trickling down to natural gas,” Flynn said. “There’s […]