US natural gas hedging: 2012 outlook

Pauline McCallion speaks to natural gas producers and consumers about what’s on the radar that might affect their hedging strategies this year

Wild swings in energy prices typically necessitate a change in strategy among hedgers. Back in 2008, when daily Henry Hub natural gas prices plummeted from as much as $13 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) to $3/MMBtu within the space of a year, consumers and producers of natural gas were forced to implement such changes. This mainly involved switching to different types of instruments in order to limit their exposure to higher prices, in the case of natural gas consumers such as