Bill Burson

December bidweek prices showed hefty double-digit gains throughout the country, with NGI’s National Average for the month jumping 24 cents from November to $3.77. Only a single individual point, PG&E Citygate, posted a loss, and advances of double-digits and in some cases, multi-dollars, were registered.

Natural gas for delivery Tuesday added 6 cents on average in Monday’s trading, with Midwest points up a couple of pennies as a major influx of cold air was forecast to slide into the area by midweek. At the close January natural gas futures had gained 3.4 cents to $3.988 and February had risen 2.7 cents to $3.984. January crude oil gained $1.10 to $93.82/bbl.

The NGI weekly spot gas average posted a stellar overall 24 cent gain to $3.93 for trading Nov. 25 and Nov. 26. All locations posted double-digit gains with the exception of three points on Iroquois Pipeline, which each shed less than a dime. Regionally the Northeast was a land of extremes tallying the week’s biggest winners and losers. Of the actively traded points Algonquin Citygates made it to the top adding 88 cents to $7.84 and deliveries to Iroquois Zone 2 eased 9 cents to $4.58. Regionally the Northeast outdistanced all section of the country with a 34 cent rise. California trailed the pack with “only” an 18 cent gain.

Physical natural gas for Sunday and Monday delivery tumbled nearly 20 cents in Wednesday’s trading, yet if Boston, New York and Philadelphia are excluded from the analysis, the decline comes in at a more moderate 11 cents.

Spot gas for Wednesday delivery on average fell a penny in Tuesday’s trading. However, if one is willing to assume that market dynamics in the transportation-challenged Iroquois-Algonquin corridor distort the broader national market, removing those prices shows a 6-cent decline overall.

GDF Suez Energy North America last week shut down its speculative natural gas and power trading operations, which were based in Houston.

Physical natural gas for delivery Tuesday on average fell approximately 7 cents in Monday’s trading. However, if Algonquin Citygate’s nearly $8 loss and Tennessee’s Zone 6 200 L $6-plus loss are factored out, the overall market change is a gain of about 6 cents.

Spot natural gas for weekend and Monday delivery jumped on average 53 cents in Friday’s trading, thanks to multi-dollar surges at points in the Northeast ahead of the region’s first real freeze.

Natural gas for delivery Friday on average added 7 cents in Thursday’s trading. A handful of points in the East and Northeast lost ground, but otherwise gains anywhere from a nickel to a dime were widespread.