Best Natural Gas Forex Brokers

In 2015, the US and Russia (650 bcm) were reasonably close as top producers, followed by Iran, Qatar and Canada. The top consumers were the US, the Russian Federation, China, Iran and Japan.

In 2015, the EU consumed less natural gas than the Middle-East. Japan is shifting significantly from nuclear to natural gas, after the Fukushima reactor accident.

Complex regional insecurities and power politics between the US, North Korea, China and Japan, or unrest that might affect pipelines running through Qatar, Iran and neighbouring countries, could all affect the natural gas price, and weather is always a factor.

Natural gas is bought and sold every day for delivery to energy companies that supply gas to the public. But most traders don't want to take delivery of actual gas. Brokers such as Plus500, offer natural gas to traders as a CFD, in which you can take a position on a real gas contract depending on whether you think the price of the underlying commodity is going to rise or fall before the contract expires.

Your position is actually on a dated contract, for example "Natural Gas Jun-17".

In Europe, the ICE Natural Gas Futures contracts are the most actively traded. Henry Hub Natural Gas is the US price benchmark and the futures contract most frequently traded against. Each contract has an underlying 10,000 million British thermal units (mmBtu) of natural gas.

Natural gas CFDs involve taking a position on whether the price will rise and fall and using leverage to increase your profits (or your losses). Because the CFDs reflect underlying futures contracts, you'll find several of them, with different expiry dates.

CFDs are a much easier way to trade natural gas, because you don't have to take large minimum positions in comparison to Natural Gas Futures that are designed for large energy corporations.

Some brokers offer a spread bet on natural gas that's similar to a CFD on an index. There's no expiry, but you have to pay a charge to hold the position for more than a day.

The spot natural gas market doesn't use futures contracts but trades on the actual price at the moment. Spot trading is favoured by institutional traders, often working for large energy firms. Spot trades settle immediately, for cash.

You can also buy a futures contract directly from an exchange. You normally have large minimum trade sizes for futures contracts, and of course, the contract expires at a certain point, so you don't just have to be correct in your view on the price - you have to be correct within a certain period of time.

Natural gas is unusual, in that the spot market can be more volatile than the futures market. This is because delivery difficulties can suddenly affect the spot price. Whereas predictable factors such as the closeness of the winter season may affect the forward (futures) price, all kinds of factors can affect the price for immediate delivery (spot price).

• Priced according to forecasts of future prices
• Position can be kept open but is time-limited
• Volatility factors, such as increased demand in winter, are more predictable

• Priced for immediate delivery
• Trades settle immediately
• Delivery issues can arise suddenly and can cause extreme volatility

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