Achieved

Fueled by another round of bullish weather forecasts andfollowing on the heels of gains achieved in Thursday night’s Accesstrading session, natural gas spiraled higher Friday, as traderstook back ground lost earlier in the week. When the dust hadcleared and the orders were counted in the data room at Nymex, theJanuary contract was 98.3 cents higher on the day, but still off18.8 cents for the week.

Adding to gains achieved in Tuesday night’s Access tradingsession, natural gas futures spiraled higher Wednesday as tradersprobed into uncharted price territory in reaction to anotherbullish storage report. Fueled by that buying pressure, theDecember contract finished 24.9 cents higher at $6.265, almost$2.00 above lows notched two weeks ago.

Building on gains achieved in the Tuesday night Access tradingsession, natural gas futures plodded higher yesterday morningbefore spiking dramatically just minutes after fresh storage newswas released. The December contract rocketed to a high of $4.75 andultimately settled at $4.686, a 19.6-cent gain for the session.Estimated volume of 85,529 was evidence of the frenzied buyingactivity.

Following on the heels of gains achieved in the Tuesday eveningAccess trading session and amid buying frenzies both before andafter the release of fresh storage data, natural gas futures spikedsharply yesterday as traders reacquired long positions liquidatedover the past two weeks.

Adding to gains achieved in the overnight Access tradingsession, natural gas futures were higher at the open Friday astraders kept close tabs on a tropical depression that as of presstime Friday posed a threat to production platforms in the Gulf ofMexico. However, after etching a new prompt month high for thethird day in a row Friday morning, the October contract was hitwith a long and steady sell-off throughout the afternoon as tradersheaded for the exits ahead of the weekend.

Adding to gains achieved during Monday’s impressive rebound,natural gas futures erupted higher yesterday as traders bid theJuly contract to a new all-time high for a prompt month at Nymex.After gapping higher to open at $4.65, July checked back and forth,before eventually closing at $4.686, up 12.6 cents for the session.

Building on modest gains achieved yesterday morning, the futuresmarket rocketed more than 20 cents higher Wednesday afternoon uponthe release of yet another bullish storage report. Finishing 27.1cents stronger at $4.378, the prompt July contract retraced morethan half of its Monday price slide yesterday and now stands closerto the upper limit of its $3.80-$4.60 trading range.

In what traders called a purely screen-driven cash market,prices achieved double-digit increases at virtually every pointexcept for PG&E citygates, which rose by a little less than adime.

Prices achieved broad-based small gains Tuesday largely based onan initially firm screen and lingering cool weather in the West,but were retreating in the late going as futures eventually movedlower.