Bounced

Coming off the long holiday weekend, natural gas futures traders on Monday were just as directionless as they had been the previous week. May natural gas bounced within a 15-cent range on the day before settling at $7.546, down 6.1 cents on the day.

E prime, the natural gas marketing and trading arm of Xcel Energy, said Friday it has fired or accepted the resignations of four traders in Denver for reporting false gas prices to industry newsletters that publish indexes, and has suspended two other employees pending completion of an investigation. Xcel Energy Chairman Wayne H. Brunetti signaled that e prime’s future may be in doubt in light of the traders’ questionable activities.

As if tethered to a bungie cord, natural gas prices bounced backyesterday at the New York Mercantile Exchange as temperatures alongthe East Coast soared into the 90s. Those record-setting readingsalong with stronger crude oil and physical natural gas prices gavetraders the opportunity to reclaim a large portion of last week’sprice slide. The June contract received the biggest boost, pushing14.5 cents higher to finish at $3.17.

The rebound from Monday’s price downturn bounced high above therim Tuesday as many price points experienced gains well over anickel. The upticks were attributed to a rise in the futures marketlate Monday afternoon and early evening, and a growing inclinationto buy gas for storage now before prices rise further.

Uncertainty over the treatment of municipal aggregation in NewJersey’s energy deregulation legislation caused the state’srestructuring bill to be bounced back and forth several times lastweek between the general assembly and senate, resulting in at leasta two-week delay before a final decision. The restructuring billprovides strict deadlines of Aug. 1 for statewide electric utilitygeneration unbundling, and Dec. 31 for statewide gas utility supplyunbundling. It is being reviewed by the assembly at the presenttime, and the next available voting session will take place Jan.28.