Last reviewed on October 3, 2026.
When people talk about "the natural gas price", they usually mean the front-month NYMEX Henry Hub natural gas futures contract. This guide explains what that contract is, how it expires and why the price on a chart can jump when one month rolls into the next.
Contract specifications at a glance
| Item | NYMEX Henry Hub Natural Gas (NG) |
|---|---|
| Exchange | NYMEX, part of CME Group |
| Contract size | 10,000 MMBtu |
| Price quotation | US dollars and cents per MMBtu |
| Minimum tick | $0.001 per MMBtu = $10 per contract (a one-cent move = $100) |
| Settlement | Physical delivery at Sabine Pipe Line's Henry Hub in Erath, Louisiana |
| Last trading day | Three business days before the first calendar day of the delivery month |
| Trading hours (CME Globex) | Sunday–Friday, 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, with a daily one-hour break from 5:00 p.m. |
Exchange rules change from time to time, so check the CME contract specifications before trading. Margin requirements are set by the exchange and your broker and change with volatility.
CME also lists smaller and financially settled versions, such as the E-mini natural gas contract (2,500 MMBtu) and Henry Hub Last Day Financial futures, which settle in cash against the NG contract's final settlement price rather than by delivery.
Month codes and contract names
Each delivery month has a letter code. A ticker such as NGZ26 means natural gas for December 2026 delivery.
| Code | Delivery month |
|---|---|
| F | January |
| G | February |
| H | March |
| J | April |
| K | May |
| M | June |
| N | July |
| Q | August |
| U | September |
| V | October |
| X | November |
| Z | December |
Expiration and physical delivery
The NG contract is physically settled: a long position held through expiration obliges the holder to take delivery of 10,000 MMBtu per contract, spread evenly over the delivery month, at Henry Hub. Speculators and most hedgers close or roll positions before the last trading day. The days around expiry, together with "bidweek" (when physical gas for the coming month is traded at fixed prices), can be volatile.
Front month, continuous contracts and roll gaps
Charts labelled NG1!, "continuous" or "front month" splice together successive contracts: when one month expires, the chart switches to the next. Because neighbouring months can trade at quite different prices — for example October and November, where November includes the start of winter demand — the continuous chart can show a jump on roll day that no trader actually experienced. Some platforms back-adjust history to remove these gaps, which changes the historical price levels. Always check which contract a chart follows.
Broker CFDs labelled "Natural Gas" (including the chart on our homepage) track the NYMEX futures market but have their own roll schedules and spreads, so their quotes can differ from the exchange contract and from the EIA's Henry Hub spot price.
Contango, backwardation and the strips
- Contango: later months are priced above nearer months. Common in natural gas during the injection season because storage costs money. Funds that hold the front month and roll forward (such as UNG) lose value from rolling in contango — see our natural gas ETF guide.
- Backwardation: nearer months are priced above later months, typically when gas is scarce right now.
- Winter strip: the average of the November–March contracts. Summer strip: April–October. Producers and utilities often hedge in strips rather than single months.
- Calendar spreads: positions in the price difference between two months. The March–April spread is famous for its volatility because it straddles the end of the withdrawal season.
What moves natural gas futures
Weather forecasts (heating and cooling degree days), the weekly EIA storage report, production levels, LNG feedgas demand and pipeline outages are the main short-term drivers. The storage report schedule lists the Thursday release dates that bring the most scheduled volatility.
Risk
Natural gas is one of the most volatile major commodities. Futures are leveraged: a one-dollar move is $10,000 per contract, and losses can exceed the margin deposited. Nothing on this page is investment advice; read our disclaimer and the exchange's own documentation before trading.