June natural gas prices pulled back dramatically on their first day as the prompt month contract, declining 2.4% from their previous settle and declining almost 2% from the May contract expiry yesterday. 

Declines were not even along the strip, either. Rather, for the first time in awhile, losses were most significant at the front of the strip, with later contracts declining more modestly. 

Such a decline makes it clear that the bullish May expiry yesterday helped prop up the front of the strip. Yesterday we saw contracts at the front of the strip rally the most into expiry, with the strip profile looking like the opposite of today's. 

Relevant spread charts were equally choppy as well, with the October/January V/F natural gas spread ticking higher with yesterday's rally but moving back lower with today's decline. Still, its settle was more narrow than it was a couple days ago, when the prompt month settle was a touch higher. 

This came as weather forecasts provided a bit less support today. Our Morning Update saw a slight decline in Gas Weighted Degree Days (GWDDs) compared to yesterday afternoon's forecast, which appeared to contribute to this front-led selling. 

Though GWDD losses were certainly not all that significant, coming after a day (and a week) where we saw the front of the natural gas strip run up so much they were unlikely to provide much support (this chart is also from our Morning Update). 

The fact that natural gas prices peaked around the May expiry is not particularly surprising given the recent strength we have seen in Henry Hub cash prices with gas storage levels sitting so low and short-term cold still impressive. 

Next week we will announce the first injection of gas into storage, however, and from there injection size is projected to increase through May. In our Pre-Close Update this afternoon we outlined for subscribers both how weather forecasts were likely to change over the weekend and what influence that was likely to have along the natural gas strip next week. We also looked at how spread movement today appeared to skew risk next week, and of course at whether the tighter than expected EIA print yesterday will be enough to continue keeping natural gas prices bid.