Considering advanced figures from CME Group for natural gas futures markets, open interest rose for the fourth straight session on Thursday, this time by around 20.1K contracts. Volume, on the other hand, dropped for the second consecutive session, now by around 11.3K contracts.

Natural Gas could still retest the sub-$2.00 area

Prices of the natural gas charted a small drop on Thursday on the back of rising open interest and shrinking volume. That said, further range bound trade should remain in the pipeline in the very near term, while the next target on the downside still emerges at the 2023 low near $1.96 per MMBtu (February 22).