Natural gas prices were up slightly on Friday, with a 0.49% increase to $1.79. Despite the incremental increase, prices may stay close to the $1.80 mark for the near future.

The forecast for natural gas through next week is that the demand will remain very light. There is plenty of gas stored up in many of the major reserves around the world, and warmer months mean there is little need for large gas orders.

We are likely to see the gas prices vacillate within a short range for the foreseeable future. The $1.80 level has remained nearly constant for natural gas over the last couple of months, with little deviation. That is way below the $2.50-$3.50 range we were seeing for gas prices in the October to January period.

How Low Can Gas Go?

The floor for natural gas prices might be at $1.50, but it will be a while before we see that. There may not be a major turnaround until we start to approach that level or reach the fall months of the year and winter orders for gas start to pour in.

Investors should play the long game with natural gas for now. They may not want to invest heavily in it, as it could go much lower in the near future. However, it will probably be a while before we start to see a major price increase from the current level.

Look for indicators from Russia and their gas buying trends to see if the cost of gas might change soon. Further Russian oil refinery attacks could force Russia to do something drastic to the gas supply, if the war with Ukraine continues.

Natural gas is a commodity that will recover on its own, given enough time. Just wait for a few months and see the prices come up on their own. If you can spare the investment, this is not a bad time to put money into low-priced natural gas.