Bend

Not even a late, short-covering rally could take it away from bears Wednesday. It was their day. In addition to slipping 2 cents to close at $4.227, the November futures contract completed the bearish trifecta by notching both a lower low and lower high for the session. The only thing shaky about the down-move was that it came on light estimated volume of just 61,313 contracts.

After shuffling to new 16-month lows for the second session in a row Thursday, natural gas futures steadied in the afternoon as several large commercial accounts supported the market with their buying presence. The September contract finished at $2.811, down 3.7 cents for the session but almost a nickel higher than its $3.765 low.

Led by the September contract, which dropped 8 cents to $2.956, natural gas futures slumped Thursday as forecasts for moderating temperatures gave bears the confidence they needed to pressure prices. However, Thursday was not a complete disaster for bulls. Instead, some viewed the price action as just another range-bound trading session in which the market failed to break beneath stubborn support in the $2.90-95 area.

PG&E Gas Transmission-Northwest removed the A unit atStation 12 (Bend, OR) from service due to a bleed valve failure.Capacity through the station was reduced to 1,890 MMcf/d Wednesday,affecting downstream deliveries. However, repairs were completedthe same day and capacity will return to 1,910 MMcf/d today.

The futures market opened lower on Thursday, but aftersustaining an initial round of selling, the prompt month managed toclaw its way back up to $1.817, a 0.2 cent decline for the day.That left the September contract still perched just above long term support at $1.78 yesterday, trading within a narrow 4-cent range.Estimated volume registered an unremarkable 40,943.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) announced it isexpanding its NIPSCO Choice program to an additional 32,000residential customers in the South Bend area this summer and willintroduce the program to Fort Wayne-area residents early next year.In addition, the number of commercial and small industrialcustomers eligible to choose alternate suppliers will increase to10,000.

The May futures contract suffered a third straight day of lossesby slipping a mere 0.6-cents to settle at $2.469 in relativelyquiet trading. The session was marked by light selling as bearsprobed for sell-stops but was kept in check by buying ahead of the2.435-.440 level. A modest 31,695 contracts changed hands in asession that saw no new fundamental developments.

NIPSCO announced 3,281 out of 50,000 eligible residentialcustomers in the South Bend-Mishawaka-Granger area and 920 out of1,500 eligible commercial and small industrial buyers in thenorthern third of the state of Indiana will begin receiving gasfrom alternative suppliers for the first time starting in April.