A Rockies producer had a pithy description of the current gas market: “It stinks!” Industrial firms that use gas as a feedstock and almost everyone enjoying lower gas bills might disagree, but it’s likely that many others in the gas industry also would prefer a sweeter-smelling market.

There aren’t many locations left still averaging $3 or more; in fact, a good many ended the week closer to $2 after Friday’s losses ranged from about a nickel to a little more than $1.05 (Transco’s Zone 6-New York pool had the only dollar-plus spike).

The Empress average dipped even further below C$2 to a little more than C$1.85.

February futures managed a small rally of 2.1 cents, but that’s not very meaningful when Nymex traders were toying with 10-year lows for a prompt-month contract earlier in the week (see related story).

Some might find it strange that Chicago citygates took a big drop of about 15 cents when a snowstorm was targeting the area Friday and the high in Saturday’s forecast would still be several degrees below freezing. Trading through Monday flows when a warming trend would be under way was a partial explanation, but it was another example of the market seeming to deny logical influences.

According to the CenterPoint bulletin board, Houston was experiencing a near-summerish 81 degrees early Friday afternoon. It didn’t take a rocket scientist at the NASA Space Center to judge that no furnaces were running in the area.

The almost incessant implementations and cessations of pipeline restrictions showed no sign of letting up anytime soon (see Transportation Notes). One source said it would be extremely difficult to compile data for historical comparisons, but from his many years of observing the industry, he believes there has been a much greater torrent of restrictions coming and going since the start of December than in any such period previously.

Analysts have been chiding producers for months about not shutting in enough of their output to stabilize the market and eventually boost prices. It’s true that the gas-oriented rig count has been gradually declining, but it’s made essentially no difference when such factors as the high initial production rates of many shale wells and the large amounts of associated gas that come along with seeking more lucrative oil and natural gas liquids are included.

Baker Hughes reported a drop of 11 active gas-directed drilling rigs to 780 in the week ending Jan. 20.

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