Jeremiah Shelor

*Part 1 of 3. Historically low storage inventories are doing battle withsurging unconventional output — raisingthe stakes and uncertainty for bears and bulls heading into the winter. This series lays out a roadmap for what could influence natural gas markets during the upcoming Winter 2018/19 heating season.Part 2examined the South Central region. Part 3 focused on West Coast markets.

Pushing back against a Department of Energy (DOE) plan to bail out less competitive coal and nuclear power generators, oil and natural gas trade groups on Wednesday defended the pipeline industry’s cybersecurity efforts.

As part of a handful of in-service authorizations issued this week as the winter heating season kicks off, FERC has cleared Gulf South Pipeline Co. LP to start up additional compression capacity as part of its Coastal Bend Header Project aimed at serving liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in Texas.

December natural gas futures were trading 4.2 cents higher at $3.240/MMBtu shortly before 9 a.m. ET Tuesday, with forecasters pointing to colder trends overnight for the second week of November sandwiched between milder spells.

As the regulatory process has become more fraught and politicized for pipeline operators, major challenges lie ahead for the next wave of greenfield takeaway projects that will be needed to tap the full potential of the most active oil and natural gas plays in the U.S. onshore.

November natural gas futures, set to expire Monday, were down 6.5 cents to $3.120/MMBtu shortly before 9 a.m. ET Monday, with forecasts producing warmer near- and medium-term trends over the weekend as the latest production numbers continue to climb. The December contract was trading 6.6 cents lower at $3.159.

November natural gas futures were trading 4.7 cents lower at $3.155/MMBtu shortly before 9 a.m. ET Friday, with the market processing the implications of loose government storage data as forecasters pointed to milder long-range temperature risks.

The U.S. rig count grew by one to reach 1,068 for the week ended Friday (Oct. 26), including big gains in the Williston Basin, according to data from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).

The U.S. natural gas rig count dropped one unit to fall to 193 for the week ended Friday (Oct. 26), and the Gulf of Mexico also lost one rig, according to data from Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE).