Achieved

Repealing a portion of the gains achieved in last week’s four-day price rally, natural gas futures shuffled lower Friday, as traders pressured prices lower in sympathy with softer weekend cash market values. The November contract closed at $2.43, down 10.1 cents for the session, but 20.3 cents above its closing point from the week prior. Estimated volume was again healthy for a Friday, as 65,418 contracts changed hands.

Adding to gains achieved Monday, natural gas futures extended to new three-day highs yesterday, as traders grappled with the first onslaught of chilly weather across the Midwest and Northeast U.S. The buying pressure was evenly distributed through the trading session, leaving the November contract with a 11.8-cent gain to finish at $2.388. The entirety of the winter strip lagged the prompt month only slightly, advancing 9.2 cents to finish at $2.778.

On the heels of fresh storage news and in sympathy with gains achieved in the nearby crude oil pit, natural gas futures rebounded from their morning lows Thursday as scale-down buying interest lifted the market to its first positive close since the New York Mercantile Exchange reopened for business last Friday. Buying was almost uniform across all contracts, with November edging out the rest of the strip with a 3.7-cent advance to close at $2.464. October followed not far behind, gaining 3.5 cents to finish at $2.137.

Building on modest short-covering related advances achieved Friday, natural gas futures plowed higher yesterday as traders returned to the office to find that meteorologists had not backed away from their forecasts calling for hot temperatures across an extended area of the country over the next 10 days. With that, the September contract took over as the prompt month at Nymex with a neat, 15.9-cent gain to close at $3.353.

White Plains, NY-based Texaco, the number three energy major, achieved record second quarter income that exceeded analysts’ expectations, reporting Wednesday that it had income of $817 million, or $1.50 per share, compared with $614 million, or $1.17 per share, for the second quarter of 2000. Net income for the period was $784 million, or $1.44 per share.

Eroding gains achieved in the overnight Access trading session, natural gas futures trickled lower Tuesday as neither bull nor bear was willing or able to propel the May contract outside of its recent trading range. Closing at $5.115, the May contract finished 5.5 cents off its opening trade, but 1.2 cents above Monday’s settle.

Most Americans believe exploration and production can be achieved in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) without environmental damage to the area, according to a new survey conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide for Arctic Power. The survey included responses from 1,002 Americans over the age of 18.

Most Americans believe exploration and production can beachieved in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) withoutenvironmental damage to the area, according to a new surveyconducted by Wirthlin Worldwide for Arctic Power. The surveyincluded responses from 1,002 Americans over the age of 18.

Buoyed by gains achieved in the overnight Access tradingsession, natural gas futures finished on a positive note Friday, asshort covering took back a small percentage of last week’s massivelosses. The February contract led the way, rumbling 32.3 centshigher to close at $7.459. Meanwhile, the out months were muchquieter with smaller gains in March, April and May almost offsetby modest losses in the rest of the strip.