Natural gas prices at the Waha hub in the Permian basin in Texas slumped to a negative value of -$2.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) this week as the recent rise in oil prices prompts producers to bring drilled but uncompleted wells online. As the U.S. benchmark oil price, West Texas Intermediate, hit $85 per barrel—the highest level in nearly six months, Texas producers keep pumping crude, but their wells also produce gas, which basically has nowhere to go. While producers are chasing higher realizations for the crude they pump, they are depressing further an already depressed U.S. natural gas market, ... (full story)