Natural gas futures dipped as much as 8% on Wednesday, pulling back from a more than seven-year high above $6 per million British thermal units hit during the prior session.
The contract for November delivery fell to a low of $5.42 on Wednesday, before recovering some of those losses to settle 6.85% lower at $5.47 in the worst daily performance since January.
Natural gas prices have shot up this month amid an energy crunch in Europe that’s sent power prices to all-time highs.
Natural gas futures are up 26% for September, and prices have more than doubled since the beginning of the year.
Despite Wednesday’s downturn, some believe it’s a temporary halt in an otherwise upward trajectory.
“Natural gas fundamentals all point to higher prices: robust Chinese demand, shut-in offshore US production, and low supplies from Russia,” strategists at Oanda said. “The natural gas market has a supply problem and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon.”
