Natural Gas (NG) April (J) contract study: year-by-year results, the day-by-day shape of the move and where highs and lows printed.
Contract Almanac · Natural Gas (Henry Hub)
Every April natural gas contract 2011–2026, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads Feb 21 – Mar 23
The April contract is the winter hangover. Leading from late February through most of March, it holds the board as heating season ends and the market takes its first honest look at spring storage. The record leans red, 6 winners in 16 tries with a −2.9% median, but the losses are the gentle kind by this board’s standards, and the file’s real job is transition: it is the month the winter story officially closes its books.
Each year is one contract, measured from the open of the day it took over the lead to the close of the day it handed off, the same roll convention used across all Traders Brief research. Tenure lengths vary by a few trading days from year to year, so day counts differ slightly at the tail. All highs and lows are the contract’s own trades, marked by trading day of the tenure, not calendar day.