Amid

The Rockies remained the last bastion of rising prices Thursday with gains on either side of 30 cents for CIG and Questar and about a quarter for Kern River and Northwest. Otherwise the cash market found it had already milked the last drop of price strength from a return of cold weather in the East. Even the Southwest basins, California and intra-Alberta joined eastern points in price movement that ranged from flat to down about a quarter in most cases. The Northeast again led the way downward with even bigger losses that ran as high as about 70 cents at the Algonquin citygate.

After erupting to a new high for the week on the heels of an undeniably bullish inventory report Thursday morning, natural gas futures dropped to a new low for the week Thursday afternoon as traders priced in the latest forecasts calling for mild weather for the first quarter of 2003. The January contract took the selling squarely on the chin, dropping nearly 44.3 cents off its high for the day and 23.1 cents off Wednesday’s close to finish at $5.047. In doing so, it settled beneath the February 2003 contract ($5.073) for the first time.

Big declines in Northeast and San Juan/Rockies numbers stood out Friday amid a general market that was flat to slightly lower. Fairly benign weather helped explain the softness in parts of the West, while the Northeast was consolidating from recently sky-high price levels.

After oscillating higher, then lower and carving out a quick 13-cent trading range in 20 minutes Thursday morning, January natural gas futures finished the day with a bang as traders priced in another in a string of bullish storage reports (91 Bcf withdrawal). January finished at $4.406, up 10.8 cents for the session and just four ticks below its daily high at $4.41.

After falling during the regular session Wednesday, natural gas futures rebounded to erase that loss in the late afternoon as traders reacted to the news of a larger-than-expected 49 Bcf storage withdrawal.

Despite news that only 1 Bcf of gas was pulled from storage last week, the natural gas futures market fought its way higher Thursday as traders remained focused on forecasts calling for colder-than-usual temperatures for the end of November. Light profit taking was seen near the closing bell, but it was not enough to erase the bulk of the day’s gains. December finished at $4.351, up 9.7 cents for the session.

Prices continued to ride the crest of somewhat premature winter weather and strong futures to new gains Wednesday, but just barely in most cases. Rockies numbers increased by about 20-40 cents and Northeast citygates rose by 5-15 cents, but otherwise nearly all points ranged from flat to only about a nickel higher.

After finishing last week on very negative and tenuous footing, natural gas futures extended lower Monday as funds and local traders exerted their influence on a market mostly devoid of commercial players. However, after plumbing a new, four-week low at $3.67 yesterday morning, the November contract struggled back to near unchanged in the afternoon. It settled at $3.74, up 0.1 cents on the day.

Amid three distinct selling surges, natural gas futures returned to pre-hurricane (Isidore and Lili) levels Thursday as traders grappled with a one-two combination of bearish news. The first blow came before the open when traders learned that Hurricane Lili had weakened prior to landfall. Still reeling from that, traders were again stymied upon learning that a greater-than-expected 47 Bcf was injected into storage last week, according to the Energy Information Administration. Then after holding support at $3.78 for much of the afternoon, the November contract broke lower in the final 30 minutes of trading. It closed at $3.724, down 43.6 cents for the session and more than 50 cents beneath its $4.25 peak notched during the height of the hurricane hype Tuesday.