Anticipate

Natural gas bulls shouldn’t anticipate higher prices going into 2011. They could, in fact, see even lower average prices than this year, Barclays Capital analysts said in a note to clients Tuesday.

TransCanada reported experiencing a mainline rupture Saturday upstream of Station 112 in Ontario. The pipeline said it had isolated the affected section, but did not anticipate any capacity restrictions as a result of the event.

Because trading was for Monday-only deliveries, when most of the U.S. and Canada could anticipate a return of colder weather after some moderation during the holiday weekend, prices were up at most points Wednesday. The timing also allowed the cash market to ignore a 44.1-cent plunge by January futures a day earlier.

Canadian natural gas drilling is forecast to heat up again in the coming winter field work season as producers and contractors alike anticipate the next surge in prices and vow to be ready to take advantage of it with increased productive capacity.

Sources expect Tuesday’s generally mild softness to continue as air conditioning load recedes in the East and there is no near-term tropical storm threat to offshore Gulf of Mexico production. As if to reinforce their outlook, the energy futures complex experienced steep price dives Tuesday, with the August natural gas contract falling nearly a quarter and its crude oil counterpart plunging about $2 in expiration-day profit taking.

A new merchant natural gas storage field in a depleted gas fieldnortheast of Denver has obtained all of its state approvals and itsbackers anticipate construction will start early next year, withinitial start-up of the 9 Bcf working capacity to begin in thefourth quarter 2001. Backers have no signed contracts and arecurrently looking for customers, according to Mike Wright, one ofthe principals in Dallas-based Brant Energy, which is putting theproject together.

Flatness dominated at nearly all market points Thursday, andseveral sources anticipate a softening mode today due both to thescreen’s decline Thursday and the usual slump of weekend usage.Also, a marketer said cooling weekend temperatures in Texas shoulddampen some of the recent air conditioning load in the state.