Natural gas rises nearly 3% to Rs 173.20 per mmBtu on strong overseas cues

In the futures market, natural gas for September delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 173.80 and a low of Rs 170.60 per mmBtu on the MCX

Natural gas futures soared to Rs 173.20 per mmBtu on September 14 as participants increased their long positions. The commodity declined 12.3 percent last week on the NYMEX.

Prices gained on risk premium on the back of increased storm activity in Atlantic. According to US National Hurricane Centre, tropical storm Sally is hovering in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to strengthen to hurricane-level before making landfall in Louisana.

In the futures market, natural gas for September delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 173.80 and a low of Rs 170.60 per mmBtu on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 131.30 and a high of Rs 203.

Natural gas futures for September delivery Rs 4.80, or 2.85 percent, to Rs 173.20 per mmBtu at 14:47 hours IST on a business turnover of 16,998 lots.

The same for October delivery jumped Rs 2.9, or 1.43 percent, at Rs 206 per mmBtu on a business volume of 2,256 lots.

The value of September and October’s contracts traded so far is Rs 787.79 crore and Rs 28.11 crore, respectively.

"Natural gas has corrected sharply from November 2019 highs, but is now showing some signs of recovery. We could see extended gains unless there is more clarity on the storm effect," said Kotak Securities.

At 09:20 (GMT), the natural gas price surged 3.44 percent at $2.34 per mmBtu in New York.

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