Natural gas: When will the bloodshed stop?

6 Jan 2023

Natural gas prices (US Henry Hub) plunged 20% in the first week of 2023, dropping below pre-Russian invasion of Ukraine levels and continuing losses seen in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The sell-off was violent, mimicking a falling knife pattern, with prices sliding back to levels seen towards the end of 2021 and the RSI returning to oversold territory. aPrices are now two standard deviations lower than the 20-day moving average, while the 50-day and 200-day moving averages trade 70% and 100% above, respectively, than current prices. The decline from the highs reached in August is around 65%.

It appears that the apocalypse has arrived for the asset class that rose by 100% in the first eleven months of 2022, outperforming all major markets, only to lose all of its profits in one month.

Extremely high temperatures in Europe and the United States over the winter season kept natural gas supplies plentiful, causing prices to fall. According to NOAA predictions, temperatures on the North American continent will be above normal again in January 2023.

Prices for natural gas have hit a support level not seen in over a year, suggesting that an abundance of pessimism is already included into market valuations. Below this level of support, the next level to watch is 3.02 (June 2021 lows) and the psychological 3.00 level. That would imply a 70% loss from the peak, which would support some dip buying given that the market has not yet fully resolved the 2022 geopolitical issues.

In this case, technical analysis suggests that further declines are likely to be contained; similar oversold RSI levels in the past have been followed by weeks of bullish price action, suggesting that this sharp decline may not be without some upward potential. Prices might return to 4.47, the level at which they traded on the day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.