Jeremiah Shelor

New England utility Eversource Energy is threatening to take legal action against the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) over what it said are “false and misleading statements” about the utility’s natural gas pipeline scheduling practices from 2013-2016.

Natural gas futures followed up last week’s selling by falling even further Tuesday, setting a new low for the January contract as the market appears to doubt whether winter demand can soak up ample production. Meanwhile, East Coast spot market buyers had no doubt about an increase in short-term demand, and big gains in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic lifted the NGI National Spot Gas Average 21 cents to $3.19/MMBtu.

January natural gas was set to open about 4 cents higher at around $2.815 Monday, as forecasters were pointing to some potential cold risks in the long-range weather outlook.

After last week’s drubbing, natural gas futures gained modestly on Monday to start the new week, helped by some frigid temperatures in the 11-15 day outlook. The spot market firmed as well, even as prices moderated somewhat in the Northeast, and the NGI National Spot Gas Average added 4 cents to $2.98/MMBtu.

January natural gas was set to open about 4 cents higher at around $2.80 Friday, with the market showing signs of bouncing back from the prior day’s sell-off amid continued cold risks in the 11-15 day outlook.

The United States added two more rigs to its tally for the week ended Friday, marking five weeks in a row of increases in domestic drilling activity, according to data released by Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI).

U.S. natural gas drilling activity held flat for the week ended Friday as a net increase of two oil-directed units helped the domestic rig count to its fifth straight weekly increase, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI).

Natural gas futures traded in a holding pattern Friday, adding less than a penny to the prompt-month contract to cap off a rough week for the bulls. Outside of strong weather-driven gains along the East Coast, the spot market softened also, with prices in some regions barely registering a reaction to the arrival of cold weather. The NGI National Spot Gas Average gained 8 cents to $2.94/MMBtu.

The arrival of winter cold following a period of mild temperatures helped lift natural gas spot prices in some regions this week, but a sell-off in futures showed it wasn’t cold enough to send the bears into hibernation. The NGI Weekly Spot Gas Average gained 18 cents to $2.89.