据世界石油12月26日报道，美国天然气期货价格跌至7月份以来的最低水平，由于新年天气预报将转暖，创纪录高的欧洲天然气价格也暴跌。
周四纽约商品交易所期货价格下跌9.5%，为12月初以来最大跌幅。预计下周美国东海岸和南部将出现反常的高温，这将抑制对取暖和发电厂燃料的需求。进入美国周末后，交易量有所减少，增加了期货市场突然波动的可能性。
EBW Analytics在给客户的报告中称，疲弱的现货市场在长假周末跌至纪录温暖状态，可能会增加止住跌势的难度。
周四的抛售发生在欧洲天然气价格暴跌20%之后，原因是市场预期从美国运抵欧洲的一批液化天然气将有助于缓解能源危机。能源危机已将天然气期货推至创纪录高点，并导致一些工厂停产。最近几周，美国的液化天然气出口设施一直在全速运转，30艘装载着近500万立方米燃料的油轮正在横渡大西洋。
美国天然气库存在入冬时小幅下降，突显了市场对气温将高于正常水平的预期。根据周四发布的一份报告显示，公用事业公司和其他客户上周仅从冬季储存的天然气中提取了550亿立方英尺，符合分析师的预期，但不到5年同期平均需求的一半。
纽约上午10点49分，天然气期货价格下跌6.5%。
郝芬 译自 世界石油
原文如下：
U.S. natural gas hits five-month low on milder winter forecast
U.S. natural gas futures plunged to the lowest since July as the weather forecast for the new year shifted milder and record-high prices in Europe plunged.
Futures fell as much as 9.5% on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday, the most since early December. Unseasonably high temperatures are expected on the East Coast and southern U.S. through next week, dampening demand for the heating and power-plant fuel. Trading has thinned heading into the U.S. holiday weekend, raising the likelihood of sudden swings in the future market.
“A weak spot market sliding into record warmth over the long holiday weekend may add to difficulties stemming the bleeding,” EBW Analytics said in a note to clients.
Thursday’s sell-off comes after gas prices in Europe plunged 20% on expectations that a flotilla of liquefied natural gas cargoes en route from the U.S. will help to ease an energy crisis that has driven futures to record highs and shut factories. U.S. LNG export facilities have been operating at or above capacity in recent weeks and 30 tankers carrying nearly 5 million cubic meters of the fuel combined are crossing the Atlantic.
Anemic declines to U.S. gas inventories at the start of winter has underscored the market’s expectations for higher-than-normal temperatures. Utility companies and other customers drew just 55 billion cubic feet of natural gas from winter storage last week, in-line with analyst expectations but less than half the 5-year average demand for that time of year, a report released Thursday shows.
Natural gas futures traded 6.5% lower at 10:49 a.m. in New York.
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