LNG

Jan 25 (LNGJ) - US natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange continued to soar because of forecasts of high natural gas withdrawals in the next storage report on January 25 from the US Energy Information Administration as well as the expected return of cold weather to the East Coast. The NYMEX front-month contract was last at $3.48 per million British thermal units while the US Henry Hub benchmark spot price was at $3.33 per MMBtu. European prices were little changed from seasonal averages, with the UK National Balancing Point price being at the equivalent of $6.80 per MMBtu and the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) price quoted at $6.50 per MMBtu. Energy prices were underpinned by the North Sea Bent crude oil price hitting $71 per barrel.