Arrival

April natural gas futures on Wednesday recorded a new low for the larger down move, but rebounded ahead of the arrival of fresh storage data Thursday to close at $4.559, up 4.3 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Natural gas traders were unimpressed with the weekend arrival of Tropical Storm Ida in the Gulf of Mexico and it showed in trading on Monday as the December contract traded back and forth during the day before closing the regular session at $4.670, up 7.5 cents from Friday’s finish.

Sunday saw the arrival of the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Sempra LNG’s Cameron LNG terminal near Lake Charles, LA.

The arrival of real summer heat tied with overwhelming prior-day screen support helped push the nation’s cash market points unanimously higher Tuesday for the second consecutive day. Most gains across the country ranged 30-50 cents.

Areas along the Texas Gulf Coast were being evacuated Wednesday ahead of the anticipated arrival Saturday of Hurricane Ike, which some forecasters fear could be the worst storm to hit Texas in nearly 40 years. Oil and natural gas producers were transporting their remaining offshore employees onshore, and nearly all Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production was expected to be shut in by the weekend.

Natural gas futures traders on Monday shrugged off the arrival of Tropical Storm Fay and instead convincingly took out psychological support at $8 with a close of $7.888, down 20.4 cents from Friday’s finish. The close below $8 was the first since Feb. 6.

Buoyed by forecasts for significant heat in the Southwest and the arrival of the first tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, July natural gas futures pushed above $12 in Monday trade to record a high of $12.203. However, the momentum could not be sustained as the prompt-month contract dropped to close at $11.969 — still good for a 26.6-cent gain over Friday’s finish.

North America has yet to see the arrival of the quantity of liquefied natural gas (LNG) envisioned just a few years ago, but the global commodity is on its way, and its impact on gas supply balancing is yet to be fully imagined.

North America has yet to see the arrival of the quantity of liquefied natural gas (LNG) envisioned just a few years ago, but the global commodity is on its way, and its impact on gas supply balancing is yet to be fully imagined.