Bearish

Natural gas futures traders continued to probe the downside on Wednesday but had significantly reined in the bearish enthusiasm that was prevalent on Tuesday. January futures reached a low of $4.193 before closing the regular session at $4.222, down 3.3 cents from Tuesday’s regular session close.

As it shifts its portfolio toward more oily prospects, natural gas producer Williams Cos. said Monday it will pay $925 million to acquire 85,800 net acres in the Bakken Shale.

Seasonal fall temperatures are due to reign in most areas as the new month begins Monday, and that was bearish news for the cash market. Even without the “weekend factor” of light industrial load in effect, prices fell at a large majority of points Friday.

The reality of seasonal autumn weather — with both heating and cooling load on the low side — began to exact a more bearish influence on the market Thursday, with most points falling by 2-3 cents to about 15 cents. Most numbers were close to flat, with other points ranging from unchanged to nearly a dime higher.

Natural gas prices made modest gains in most North American markets Thursday, surprising most sources polled by NGI, who pointed to continued bearish fundamental factors and a futures market that showed little sign of rebound.

The natural gas futures market’s bearish momentum Thursday spilled over into Friday as the September contract recorded a low of $4.456 before closing the regular session at $4.467, down 13.1 cents from Thursday’s close and 45.6 cents lower than the previous week’s finish.

Wednesday’s rally in the face of bearish weather demand proved to be a fluke as prices fell at all but one point Thursday in trading for the Good Friday/Easter holiday weekend. Prior-day futures softness and the extra loss of industrial load during a long holiday weekend also figured into the cash losses.

Wednesday’s rally in the face of bearish weather demand proved to be a fluke as prices fell at all but one point Thursday in trading for the Good Friday/Easter holiday weekend. Prior-day futures softness and the extra loss of industrial load during a long holiday weekend also figured into the cash losses.

Colder weekend trends in sections of the South and Midwest failed to inspire enough heating load to counter the bearish influences of generally moderate weather as winter enters its final week, the prior-decline of 11.9 cents by April futures and the dropoff of industrial demand during a weekend. As a result, prices fell at all but one point Friday.