Natural gas prices whipsawed on Friday, first moving lower and then rebounded late in the date, after testing support near the 10-day moving average at 2.99. A smaller than expected build in natural gas inventories on Thursday helped prices remain buoyed. While the number of gas rigs increased, it was smaller than expected. Resistance is seen near the June highs at 3.12. Momentum remains positive as the MACD index recently generated a buy signal, and the MACD histogram is printing in the black with an upward sloping trajectory which points to higher prices.
Rig Counts Finally Dipped
According to Baker Hughes, the oil service giant, the number of active oil and gas rigs in the United States fell by a single rig this week, and thus concludes the US shale patch’s impressive run of 23 weeks of steady gains. The decrease comes as oil prices are on track to record their worst first-half performance since H1 1998. The number of oil rigs in operation decreased by two, while gas rigs increased by one. Combined, the total oil and gas rig count in the US now stands at 940 rigs, which is 509 rigs over a year ago today. While the numbers were down for the first week in a long time in the United States, Canada has seen four weeks of two-digit gains, adding 90 rigs in total in that timeframe, after this week’s 19-rig gain.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire