How to buy natural gas at XTB?

• Be prudent and analyze the market. For example, conduct research on what is going on in the market, and discover trends. 
• Create a responsible trading strategy. Think hard about positioning, exit and entry points, and risk management. 
• Open an account with XTB. In this guide, we show you how to do it. 
• Open your trade. Go to XTB’s ‘Client office’ area on their site and chose natural gas on the platform. Hit the Buy or Sell button and your trade is open - we should the details below. Don’t forget to monitor your trades and keep a trading journal!

XTB’s platform with NATGAS chart

• Once you have an active account, log in to the ‘Client Office’ on XTB’s site, if you are not already there. 
• You need to fund your account to start trading: here is how. 
• Once you added some funds, click on the ‘Go to Xstation5’ at the bottom left-hand corner to open the trading platform.
• There you will see your trading platform. You can also fund your account from here (in the left-hand bottom corner) if you haven’t done it already. 
• In the search bar in the upper left corner, you can start searching for companies linked to natural gas or search for NATGAS, a CFD instrument, which price is based on the quotations of the future contracts for Henry Hub natural gas quoted on the NYMEX exchange. 
• By clicking on the small chart bar next to NATGAS, you can open up its chart to see the latest trends. You can zoom out to see a longer period of time. 
• By clicking on the SL/TP sign (just above the Sell/Buy buttons), you can set your Stop Loss and Take Profit orders. To find out what they mean, check out this article. It is wise to set a Stop Loss order to protect your funds. 
• Once you devised a strategy, hit the Sell or Buy button and start trading natural gas! 

To trust your money with a broker before you start trading natural gas, you need to be sure that the broker is considered reliable. BrokerChooser only recommends regulated brokers, meaning the broker's operations are regulated and overseen by a trusted body.

XTB can be considered a legit broker, as it is overseen by a top-tier regulator, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is a great sign of reliability.

For you, this means that your money should be in good hands meaning that you should be able to access your funds at XTB.

Key things to know about XTB

• XTB is a reliable broker regulated by a top-tier regulator, the FCA
• The minimum deposit at XTB is £0
• XTB charges £0 for deposits
• You can only deposit funds from accounts that are in your name
• Visit XTB's page to start the account opening process

Natural gas, used for heating and generating electricity, is the second most traded commodity after oil. Extracting and distributing natural gas is an expensive process. Its price is also influenced by the weather: in cold, the demand grows. Supply and demand can also be impacted by natural disasters, and wars, like recently Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

In short, natural gas prices can be quite volatile. It is important to manage the risk associated with this volatility, so for instance, having a stop-loss order in place, will help. 

There are different ways to invest and trade in the natural gas market. XTB offers trading in CFDs and investing through stocks and ETFs.

One historically popular way for traders is to speculate on the price of natural gas online by using CFDs, known as Contracts for Difference (CFD). Gas CFDs are financial contracts that you trade to earn the price difference between your open and closed positions, without physical delivery or ownership of natural gas. 

One of the characteristics of CFDs is that traders with high risk tolerance and dynamic trading strategies can take leveraged positions to increase their exposure. For instance, using 1:10 leverage gives you the option to open a $10,000 contract by using only a $1000 margin. CFDs also allow you to short-sell natural gas, and you can even earn money when the price falls. 

To give you an example, NATGAS ​​is a CFD instrument that you can trade with XTB and whose price is based on quotations of the contract for Natural Gas quoted on the American regulated market, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange CME Henry Hub natural gas quotations. Henry Hub is a natural gas pipeline in Louisiana that serves as the official delivery location for futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is the world's largest physical commodity futures exchange.

At XTB, CFD fees are either built into the spread or charged as a commission. If you hold your positions overnight, you will need to pay an overnight fee (also called a financing rate or swap cost). You can find out more about fees at XTB here. 

Spot natural gas trading is available 5 days per week from 8:30 CET to 23:00 CET from Monday to Friday. Trading natural gas is not available during weekends on XTB’s platform.

You can also invest in the commodity by owning natural gas-related stocks and ETFs, which are less volatile than CFDs. These ETF funds are usually overseen by a professional manager, who invests on behalf of the investors. In case you invest in a stock, you won't be able to speculate on the prices here, but you will be able to earn an income from the companies that pay dividends. 

Keep in mind, that natural gas ETFs usually also don’t own any physical natural gas, and entail a wider exposure to the market. Instead, they own natural gas indirectly by purchasing natural gas futures contracts that trade on a commodities exchange. Natural gas ETF profits can depend on the overall price direction of natural gas. 

XTB offers various ETFs, such as the iShares STOXX Europe 600 Oil&Gas (SXEPXE.DE) or iShares Oil&Gas Exploration and Production (IOGP.UK), which are tracking share prices of a group of gas sector companies. Other ETFs, like WisdomTree Natural Gas (NGAS.UK), track the moves of natural gas prices. iShares Oil&Gas Exploration and Production (IOGP.UK) this fund gives direct exposure to a broad range of global companies.

If you want to find out more about trading or XTB, check out these articles! 

XTB review by BrokerChooser experts

CFDs explained by BrokerChooser's Bence

12 CFD trading tips from BrokerChooser's Ádám

What is an ETF? explainer