Alex Steis

Switching roles from Tuesday’s trade when Northeastern physical natural gas prices climbed while the rest of the country sank, much of the nation’s pricing points Wednesday for Thursday delivery saw small upticks, while prices in the East and Northeast declined — all while a winter storm moved up the eastern seaboard.

As shale oil and natural gas development continues to ramp up across the country, it is important to ensure that the nation’s midstream infrastructure is up to the task of handling the increased production, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API), which on Tuesday announced the creation of a midstream department.

As shale oil and natural gas development continues to ramp up across the country, it is important to ensure that the nation’s midstream infrastructure is up to the task of handling the increased production, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API), which on Tuesday announced the creation of a midstream department.

Friday December 26, 2014 will be considered a holiday for both daily and bidweek natural gas trading and NGI’s price surveys. This is based on feedback from market participants to NGI’s notice of the proposed change, published in the Nov. 24 issue (see Daily GPI,Nov. 24and NGI’s Shale Daily,Nov. 24).

With traders hustling and bustling to get business done before heading to their Thanksgiving holiday destinations, physical natural gas traded on Tuesday for Wednesday through Sunday delivery was a mixed bag. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic points were up on Wednesday’s Nor’easter; West Coast locations were down on slumping demand, and everything else fell on either side of unchanged.

Entering the Thanksgiving Holiday-shortened trading week, natural gas traders in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic enjoyed a brief respite from the recent chill as temperatures reached into the 70s in some places, all while prepping for a potential Nor’easter later in week. As a result nearly all physical delivery points softened for Tuesday delivery, except for the northern half of the East Coast, where prices firmed ahead of the winter storm.

Some market participants have contacted natural gas price survey publishers, requesting a change in the December 2014 Christmas week trading/price publishing calendar. Noting the expected lack of trading on the day after Christmas and before the weekend, they have asked that Friday, Dec. 26, 2014 be treated as a holiday for both daily and bidweek natural gas trading and publishing. That would mean that NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index (Daily GPI) and Shale Daily would not be published on that day.

Chicago-based Exelon Corp. on Thursday said it plans to continue to grow its power generation and utility businesses in the currently challenging energy market landscape through a strategy of targeted investments in core markets and promising technologies, and on asset diversification, with an eye on new technologies related to natural gas-fired power generation.

Options for natural gas supply heading south of the border just got a lot more plentiful as Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KM) Sierrita Pipeline, which entered service Friday, became the second U.S.-to-Mexico natural gas pipeline to go into service within a week.