IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecofin/v80y2025ics1062940825001342.html

Can extreme weather forecasts lead to a risk premium? Evidence of a non-linear response in U.S. natural gas futures

Author

Listed:
  • Monteux, Manou
  • Arcuri, Maria Cristina
  • Gandolfi, Gino
  • Caselli, Stefano

Abstract

Using data on hourly frequency observed temperature and daily forecasted temperatures across major U.S. metropolitan areas over a 30-year period, we analyze the relationship between the daily returns of the NYMEX Henry Hub Natural Gas futures and U.S. weather fluctuations. We propose the existence of a novel risk premium linked to extreme weather forecasts for U.S. Natural Gas futures, which outperforms the S&P500 index on an absolute and risk-adjusted basis over a 30-year period. Our findings contribute to opening a new perspective on the non-linear interplay between weather and financial markets emphasizing the importance of these factors in financial risk management and in the context of climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Monteux, Manou & Arcuri, Maria Cristina & Gandolfi, Gino & Caselli, Stefano, 2025. "Can extreme weather forecasts lead to a risk premium? Evidence of a non-linear response in U.S. natural gas futures," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:80:y:2025:i:c:s1062940825001342
    DOI: 10.1016/j.najef.2025.102494
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062940825001342
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.najef.2025.102494?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:aen:journl:2006v27-02-a04 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    3. Peter R. Hartley & Kenneth B Medlock III & Jennifer E. Rosthal, 2008. "The Relationship of Natural Gas to Oil Prices," The Energy Journal, , vol. 29(3), pages 47-66, July.
    4. Fred Espen Benth & Jurate Saltyte-Benth, 2005. "Stochastic Modelling of Temperature Variations with a View Towards Weather Derivatives," Applied Mathematical Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 53-85.
    5. Lance J. Bachmeier & James M. Griffin, 2006. "Testing for Market Integration Crude Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas," The Energy Journal, , vol. 27(2), pages 55-71, April.
    6. David Bigman & David Goldfarb & Edna Schechtman, 1983. "Futures market efficiency and the time content of the information sets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 3(3), pages 321-334, September.
    7. David J. Ramberg & John E. Parsons, 2012. "The Weak Tie Between Natural Gas and Oil Prices," The Energy Journal, , vol. 33(2), pages 13-36, April.
    8. Geman, Hélyette & Ohana, Steve, 2009. "Forward curves, scarcity and price volatility in oil and natural gas markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 576-585, July.
    9. Maximilian Kotz & Leonie Wenz & Annika Stechemesser & Matthias Kalkuhl & Anders Levermann, 2021. "Day-to-day temperature variability reduces economic growth," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(4), pages 319-325, April.
    10. repec:aen:journl:2008v29-03-a03 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Martínez, Beatriz & Torró, Hipòlit, 2015. "European natural gas seasonal effects on futures hedging," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 154-168.
    12. Richard S. Bower & Nancy L. Bower, 1985. "Weather Normalization and Natural Gas Regulation," The Energy Journal, , vol. 6(2), pages 101-116, April.
    13. Gary Gorton & K. Geert Rouwenhorst, 2006. "Facts and Fantasies about Commodity Futures," Financial Analysts Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 47-68, March.
    14. Chiou-Wei, Song-Zan & Chen, Sheng-Hung & Zhu, Zhen, 2020. "Natural gas price, market fundamentals and hedging effectiveness," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 321-337.
    15. Svetlana Borovkova & Helyette Geman, 2006. "Seasonal and stochastic effects in commodity forward curves," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 167-186, September.
    16. Wang, TianTian & Zhang, Dayong & Clive Broadstock, David, 2019. "Financialization, fundamentals, and the time-varying determinants of US natural gas prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 707-719.
    17. Fred ESPEN Benth & Jurate saltyte Benth, 2007. "The volatility of temperature and pricing of weather derivatives," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(5), pages 553-561.
    18. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1988. "Permanent and Temporary Components of Stock Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(2), pages 246-273, April.
    19. Calum G. Turvey, 2001. "Weather Derivatives for Specific Event Risks in Agriculture," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 23(2), pages 333-351.
    20. Considine, Timothy J., 2000. "The impacts of weather variations on energy demand and carbon emissions," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 295-314, October.
    21. Jeff Fleming & Chris Kirby & Barbara Ostdiek, 2006. "Information, Trading, and Volatility: Evidence from Weather‐Sensitive Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2899-2930, December.
    22. Sean D. Campbell & Francis X. Diebold, 2005. "Weather Forecasting for Weather Derivatives," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 100, pages 6-16, March.
    23. Campbell, John Y. & Yogo, Motohiro, 2006. "Efficient tests of stock return predictability," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 27-60, July.
    24. repec:aen:journl:33-2-02 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2012. "Temperature Shocks and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Last Half Century," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 66-95, July.
    26. Siliverstovs, Boriss & L'Hegaret, Guillaume & Neumann, Anne & von Hirschhausen, Christian, 2005. "International market integration for natural gas? A cointegration analysis of prices in Europe, North America and Japan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 603-615, July.
    27. Fama, Eugene F, 1970. "Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 383-417, May.
    28. Fama, Eugene F., 1998. "Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 283-306, September.
    29. Nick, Sebastian & Thoenes, Stefan, 2014. "What drives natural gas prices? — A structural VAR approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 517-527.
    30. Brigida, Matthew, 2014. "The switching relationship between natural gas and crude oil prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 48-55.
    31. Roll, Richard, 1984. "Orange Juice and Weather," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(5), pages 861-880, December.
    32. Richard Deaves & Itzhak Krinsky, 1992. "The behavior of oil futures returns around OPEC conferences," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(5), pages 563-574, October.
    33. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March.
    34. Yue Liu & Hao Dong & Pierre Failler, 2019. "The Oil Market Reactions to OPEC’s Announcements," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-15, August.
    35. Maximilian Auffhammer & Solomon M. Hsiang & Wolfram Schlenker & Adam Sobel, 2013. "Using Weather Data and Climate Model Output in Economic Analyses of Climate Change," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 7(2), pages 181-198, July.
    36. Chiou-Wei, Song-Zan & Linn, Scott C. & Zhu, Zhen, 2014. "The response of U.S. natural gas futures and spot prices to storage change surprises: Fundamental information and the effect of escalating physical gas production," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 156-173.
    37. Mu, Xiaoyi, 2007. "Weather, storage, and natural gas price dynamics: Fundamentals and volatility," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 46-63, January.
    38. Hendrik Bessembinder & Michael L. Lemmon, 2002. "Equilibrium Pricing and Optimal Hedging in Electricity Forward Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1347-1382, June.
    39. Andersen, Torben G & Bollerslev, Tim, 1998. "Answering the Skeptics: Yes, Standard Volatility Models Do Provide Accurate Forecasts," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(4), pages 885-905, November.
    40. Demirer, RIza & Kutan, Ali M., 2010. "The behavior of crude oil spot and futures prices around OPEC and SPR announcements: An event study perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1467-1476, November.
    41. Elkhafif, Mahmoud A. T., 1996. "An iterative approach for weather-correcting energy consumption data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 221-230, July.
    42. Neil Kellard & Paul Newbold & Tony Rayner & Christine Ennew, 1999. "The relative efficiency of commodity futures markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 413-432, June.
    43. Judah Cohen & Karl Pfeiffer & Jennifer A. Francis, 2018. "Warm Arctic episodes linked with increased frequency of extreme winter weather in the United States," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    44. K.J. Martijn Cremers & Joost Driessen & Pascal Maenhout, 2008. "Explaining the Level of Credit Spreads: Option-Implied Jump Risk Premia in a Firm Value Model," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(5), pages 2209-2242, September.
    45. Liang, Chao & Xia, Zhenglan & Lai, Xiaodong & Wang, Lu, 2022. "Natural gas volatility prediction: Fresh evidence from extreme weather and extended GARCH-MIDAS-ES model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    46. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2015. "Commodity Futures Prices: Some Evidence on Forecast Power, Premiums, and the Theory of Storage," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Anastasios G Malliaris & William T Ziemba (ed.), THE WORLD SCIENTIFIC HANDBOOK OF FUTURES MARKETS, chapter 4, pages 79-102, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    47. Hailemariam, Abebe & Smyth, Russell, 2019. "What drives volatility in natural gas prices?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 731-742.
    48. Fama, Eugene F, et al, 1969. "The Adjustment of Stock Prices to New Information," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 10(1), pages 1-21, February.
    49. Gary B. Gorton & Fumio Hayashi & K. Geert Rouwenhorst, 2013. "The Fundamentals of Commodity Futures Returns," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(1), pages 35-105.
    50. Gebre-Mariam, Yohannes Kebede, 2011. "Testing for unit roots, causality, cointegration, and efficiency: The case of the northwest US natural gas market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 3489-3500.
    51. Chang, Eric C, 1985. "Returns to Speculators and the Theory of Normal Backwardation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(1), pages 193-208, March.
    52. Huurman, Christian & Ravazzolo, Francesco & Zhou, Chen, 2012. "The power of weather," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 56(11), pages 3793-3807.
    53. Shao, Chengwu & Bhar, Ramaprasad & Colwell, David B., 2015. "A multi-factor model with time-varying and seasonal risk premiums for the natural gas market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 207-214.
    54. Scott C. Linn & Zhen Zhu, 2004. "Natural gas prices and the gas storage report: Public news and volatility in energy futures markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(3), pages 283-313, March.
    55. Ergen, Ibrahim & Rizvanoghlu, Islam, 2016. "Asymmetric impacts of fundamentals on the natural gas futures volatility: An augmented GARCH approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 64-74.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Lu & Wang, Xing & Liang, Chao, 2024. "Natural gas volatility prediction via a novel combination of GARCH-MIDAS and one-class SVM," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Nobel Prize Committee, 2013. "Understanding Asset Prices," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2013-1, Nobel Prize Committee.
    3. Yanting Chen & Peter R. Hartley & Yihui Lan, 2023. "Temperature, storage, and natural gas futures prices," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(4), pages 549-575, April.
    4. Liang, Chao & Xia, Zhenglan & Lai, Xiaodong & Wang, Lu, 2022. "Natural gas volatility prediction: Fresh evidence from extreme weather and extended GARCH-MIDAS-ES model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    5. Mu, Xiaoyi, 2007. "Weather, storage, and natural gas price dynamics: Fundamentals and volatility," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 46-63, January.
    6. Markus Herrmann & Martin Hibbeln, 2021. "Seasonality in catastrophe bonds and market‐implied catastrophe arrival frequencies," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 88(3), pages 785-818, September.
    7. Martínez, Beatriz & Torró, Hipòlit, 2023. "Theory of storage implications in the European natural gas market," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    8. Leonardo Bortolan & Atreya Dey & Luca Taschini, 2024. "Volatile Temperatures and Their Effects on Equity Returns and Firm Performance," CESifo Working Paper Series 11438, CESifo.
    9. Wiggins, Seth & Etienne, Xiaoli L., 2017. "Turbulent times: Uncovering the origins of US natural gas price fluctuations since deregulation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 196-205.
    10. Fred Espen Benth & Jūratė Šaltytė Benth & Steen Koekebakker, 2008. "Stochastic Modeling of Electricity and Related Markets," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number 6811.
    11. Chiou-Wei, Song-Zan & Chen, Sheng-Hung & Zhu, Zhen, 2020. "Natural gas price, market fundamentals and hedging effectiveness," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 321-337.
    12. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Sattar A. Mansi & Oumar Sy, 2023. "Event studies in international finance research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(2), pages 344-364, March.
    13. Hailemariam, Abebe & Smyth, Russell, 2019. "What drives volatility in natural gas prices?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 731-742.
    14. Dionysia Dionysiou, 2015. "Choosing Among Alternative Long-Run Event-Study Techniques," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 158-198, February.
    15. Drachal, Krzysztof, 2018. "Comparison between Bayesian and information-theoretic model averaging: Fossil fuels prices example," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 208-251.
    16. Ma, Richie Ruchuan & Xiong, Tao & Bao, Yukun, 2021. "The Russia-Saudi Arabia oil price war during the COVID-19 pandemic," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    17. Xu, Mingli & Yang, Wei & Huang, Zhixiong, 2021. "Do investor relations matter in the tourism industry? Evidence from public opinions in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 923-933.
    18. Adam Zaremba & Jacob Koby Shemer, 2018. "Price-Based Investment Strategies," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-91530-2, March.
    19. Liu, Chang & Liu, Yuan & Zhang, Dayong & Xie, Chunping, 2022. "The capital market responses to new energy vehicle (NEV) subsidies: An event study on China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    20. AitSahlia, Farid & Yoon, Joon-Hui, 2016. "Information stages in efficient markets," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 84-94.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • Q47 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy Forecasting
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:80:y:2025:i:c:s1062940825001342. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620163 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.