Natural Gas Dec '28 (NGZ28)
| Barchart Symbol | NG |
| Exchange Symbol | NG |
| Contract | Natural Gas |
| Exchange | NYMEX |
| Tick Size | 0.001 per MMBtu ($10.00 per contract) |
| Margin/Maintenance | $3,196/2,906 |
| Daily Limit | 15% above or below previous settlement |
| Contract Size | 10,000 MMBtu (million British thermal units) |
| Months | All Months |
| Trading Hours | 5:00p.m. - 4:00p.m. (Sun-Fri) (RTH 8:00a.m. - 1:30p.m.) (Settles 1:30p.m.) CST |
| Value of One Futures Unit | $10,000 |
| Value of One Options Unit | $10,000 |
| Last Trading Day | Trading terminates three business days prior to the first calendar day of the delivery month |
Description
Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is colorless, shapeless, and odorless in its pure form. It is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases, primarily methane, but also including ethane, propane, butane, and pentane. Natural gas is combustible, clean-burning, and highly energy-dense. Around 500 BC, the Chinese discovered that natural gas could be burned to produce useful energy. They passed it through crude bamboo-shoot pipes and then burned it to boil sea water to create potable fresh water. Around 1785, Britain became the first country to use natural gas produced from coal for street and indoor lighting. In 1821, William Hart dug the first well specifically intended to obtain natural gas, and he is generally regarded as the "father of natural gas" in America. There is a vast amount of natural gas estimated to still be in the ground in the US.
Natural gas futures and options are traded at the CME Group. The CME's natural gas futures contract calls for the delivery of natural gas representing 10,000 million British thermal units (mmBtu) at the Henry Hub in Louisiana, which is the nexus of 16 intra-state and inter-state pipelines. The contract is priced in terms of US dollars per mmBtu. The CME Group also offers swap futures contracts for 30 natural gas pricing locations, in addition to the benchmark Henry Hub location. Natural gas futures are also traded at the ICE Futures Europe Exchange.
Prices - CME natural gas futures (Barchart.com symbol NG) on the nearest-futures chart in 2025 closed up +1.5% at 3.686 per mmBtu.
Supply - US recovery of natural gas in 2025 rose by +4.1% to 47.726 trillion cubic feet. The top US-producing states for natural gas in 2025 were Texas (29.3% of US production), Pennsylvania (17.7%), New Mexico (9.5%), Louisiana (8.8%), Oklahoma (6.6%), Colorado (4.3%), and Wyoming (2.1%). In 2019, the world's largest natural gas producers were the US with 3,003,354 terajoules and Russia with 2,051,081 terajoules.
Demand - The US total delivered consumption of natural gas in 2025 rose by +1.2% yr/yr to 30.180 trillion cubic feet, of which about 43.3% was delivered to electrical utility plants, 28.6% to industrial establishments, 16.0% to residences, and 12.0% to commercial establishments.
Trade - US imports of natural gas (consumed) in 2024 rose by +7.4% yr/yr to 3.144 trillion cubic feet, down from the 2007 record high of 4.607 trillion cubic feet. US exports of natural gas in 2024 rose by +1.3% yr/yr to 7.707 trillion cubic feet for a new record high.
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