Above

The final quarter of 2009 will bring cooler-than-normal temperatures to much of the Southeast and Central United States, but above-normal temperatures will dominate key Northeast heating markets for two of the three months, a forecast that could temper bullishness in natural gas prices, according to a seasonal forecast from WSI Corp. of Andover, MA.

The final quarter of 2009 will bring cooler-than-normal temperatures to much of the Southeast and Central United States, but above-normal temperatures will dominate key Northeast heating markets for two of the three months, a forecast that could temper bullishness in natural gas prices, according to a seasonal forecast from WSI Corp. of Andover, MA.

CIG said it “is beginning to see some progress in achieving balance in its storage fields,” but the Ft. Morgan and Latigo facilities “continue to operate above the storage guidelines.” Therefore the previously announced Strained Operating Condition, OFO and Underperformance Caps will remain in place until further notice, CIG said, adding that it will update its assessment of operating conditions for the upcoming weekend no later than 2 p.m. MDT Thursday.

Cooler-than-normal temperatures are likely to dominate most of the eastern U.S. over the next three months, while above-normal temperatures are expected across the West, according to forecaster WSI Corp. of Andover, MA.

Because the Wabash River has remained above flood stage since early April, Rockies Express (REX) now projects it will commence REX-East service to the four delivery points in Illinois that are upstream of the Wabash in mid-May.

Atlantic basin tropical storm activity and U.S. landfall of tropical storms during the upcoming hurricane season are forecast to be about 35% above the 1950-2008 norm, according to London-based forecaster Tropical Storm Risk (TSR). TSR called for 4.8 named storms making U.S. landfall, including 2.1 hurricanes.

Atlantic basin tropical storm activity and U.S. landfall of tropical storms during the upcoming hurricane season are forecast to be about 35% above the 1950-2008 norm, according to London-based forecaster Tropical Storm Risk (TSR). TSR called for 4.8 named storms making U.S. landfall, including 2.1 hurricanes.

The market was marginally stronger Tuesday as forecasts of Midwestern lows not far above freezing joined sub-freezing predictions for the Rockies and much of Western Canada in creating extra heating load. Overall temperatures, however, were expected to get no lower than chilly (40s) in most areas, and thus flat to higher numbers only modestly outnumbered losses.

Coming into expiration Monday, January natural gas futures continued the trend of gains from Christmas week by punching above the psychological $6 resistance line to go off the board at $6.136, up 31 cents from Friday’s close. Taking over as the new front-month contract, February futures also breached $6 on Monday to close at $6.084, up 27.2 cents from Friday’s session.