Bears

Natural gas cash for weekend and Monday delivery on average took a pretty hard fall in Friday trading, but the devil was in the details and swooning eastern prices were able to overpower strong Midwest quotes as Chicago’s high Sunday was not expected to reach double digits.

Both physical and futures natural gas values drifted higher in uninspired trading Tuesday, as traders were reading the tea leaves for the market’s next big move. Physical natural gas prices were widely mixed, but most points held within a nickel either side of unchanged.

May natural gas is set to open 7 cents lower Monday morning at $2.64 as bears wet their whistles looking for a lower technical regime and weather forecasts remain seasonal. Overnight oil markets jumped.

In Texas, natural gas and renewable resources are the energy industry’s peanut butter and jelly, according to a new report paid for by a foundation that bears the name of a shale gas patch pioneer. Free wind and solar need natural gas-fueled generators to back them up, and renewables are cheaper to dispatch than fossil-fueled power sources.

In Texas, natural gas and renewable resources are the energy industry’s peanut butter and jelly, according to a new report paid for by a foundation that bears the name of a shale gas patch pioneer. Free wind and solar need natural gas-fueled generators to back them up, and renewables are cheaper to dispatch than fossil-fueled power sources.

Natural gas price bears could be in for a treat over the next few months if Mother Nature goes along with WSI Corp.’s forecast, which last week called for the May-July period to be cooler than normal across parts of the northeastern United States, with above-normal temperatures common elsewhere, especially in the western part of the country.

Natural gas price bears could be in for a treat over the next few months if Mother Nature goes along with WSI Corp.’s just-released forecast, which calls for the May-July period to be cooler than normal across parts of the northeastern United States, with above-normal temperatures common elsewhere, especially in the western United States.

Claims by natural gas bears of a “new normal” in U.S. markets because of the unconventional resource revolution aren’t supported by the underlying data, according to Morningstar analysts Mark P. Hanson and Jason Stevens.

Claims by natural gas bears of a “new normal” in U.S. markets because of the unconventional resource revolution aren’t supported by the underlying data, according to Morningstar analysts Mark P. Hanson and Jason Stevens.