What it is
A gas, mostly methane, burned for heating, electricity generation and industrial heat, and used to make fertiliser. It moves by pipeline, so prices are set at regional hubs and can differ widely between continents.
How it is usually quoted
US dollars per million British thermal units at Henry Hub in the United States; euros per megawatt-hour at the Dutch TTF hub.
This is the customary unit of the reference market. Other markets for the same commodity may use another unit or currency, and an exchange can change a contract’s terms: its own rulebook is the authority.
Where the reference contract trades
CME (NYMEX) for Henry Hub; ICE for the European hubs.
Named for orientation only. Naming an exchange or a market here does not mean that GIO4X gives access to it.
What commonly moves it
- Weather: cold winters and hot summers both raise demand
- The amount held in storage, reported weekly
- Production from shale fields
- Exports of liquefied natural gas
- Demand from power stations and competition with coal
These are the things people who follow this market usually watch. They explain how the market works; they do not say what the price will do next.
Where it comes from
The United States and Russia produce the most, followed by Iran, Qatar, China, Canada, Australia and Norway.
The order of producers changes from year to year, so no quantities or shares are given here.
At GIO4X
Natural gas is one of the 7 commodities GIO4X lists as instruments. It appears as XNG/USD (Natural Gas), in the Energy class. A CFD on US natural gas. Prices are strongly seasonal and sensitive to weather and storage data.
The contract and its published conditions are set out on the instrument page, where they are labelled as indicative. They are not repeated here.
XNG/USD instrument pageEnergy at GIO4XContract specifications
Words worth knowing
Tools for the GIO4X instrument
The calculators work on the figures you enter. They apply to XNG/USD as GIO4X lists it, not to the exchange contracts named above.
A reference page. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. It gives no price and no forecast.