Bang

Spending to create new natural gas liquefaction capacity in the United States may get Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) more bang for the buck than developing additional liquefaction projects at home, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Keeping U.S. natural gas at home would yield more economic bang per molecule than liquefying and exporting it, according to a study conducted by Charles River Associates and paid for by The Dow Chemical Co., which has lobbied hard against exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The September natural gas futures contract went off the board with a bang on Friday as no change in the market’s weak fundamentals and a scramble to square books ahead of expiration resulted in a 16.6-cent, or 4.4%, decline to $3.651, which is 46.6 cents, or 11.3%, lower than the previous week’s close. Taking over the front-month contract title, October futures closed Friday at $3.705, down 13.8 cents, or 3.6%, from Thursday’s close and 43.2 cents, or 10.4%, lower than the previous week’s finish.

The June natural gas futures contract finished its run on Wednesday with a bullish short-covering bang, but not as bullish as some had expected for the contract’s last day on the board. June jumped to a high of $4.245 before backing off to expire at $4.155, up 10.4 cents from Tuesday’s close. July futures climbed 6.5 cents to close at $4.179.

Due in part to some late book-squaring and a return to the reality of current fundamentals, November natural gas futures went off the board with a bang and not a whimper on Wednesday as the contract dropped 26.8 cents to terminate at $4.289. December futures declined by 21.6 cents to close at $5.066.

October natural gas futures went off the board on Monday with a bearish bang as values dropped under the weight of the recent advance. October slid 25.5 cents on the day to terminate at $3.730, while the November contract wasn’t nearly as weak in trimming 11.8 cents during the regular session to $4.830.

December natural gas futures went off the board on Monday with a bang as the expectation of cold and last-day short-covering drove the contract 40.8 cents higher to expire at $6.888. January natural gas closed up 32.4 cents at $6.827.

Starting December off with a bang, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced last week that Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 204 was a success with accepted high bids valued at more than $287 million. The government agency also released fiscal year 2007 (FY2007) revenue collection and disbursement amounts.

Starting December off with a bang, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced Tuesday that Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 204 was a success with accepted high bids valued at more than $287 million. On Monday, the government agency also released fiscal year 2007 (FY2007) revenue collection and disbursement amounts.