Break

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.

The May Nymex natural gas futures contract took a break from itsrecent meteoric rise by nudging 0.6 lower to $2.556 Friday. Still,that price leaves the spot month up 8.7% for the week.

The May Nymex contract soared to unprecedented heights onTuesday, thanks to an 11.3 cent surge that left the contract at$2.522. May posted a high of $2.53, which is a source said is thetop of a long term technical trading formation. The fact that Maysettled so close to that high price is a bullish sign, he said, andfor that reason, he believes May has a good shot at moving to itsnext resistance level of $2.58 when trading resumes today.

For the third day in a row the April Futures contract tested butwas unable to break through the $2.185 resistance level, stoppingshort at $2.172 Wednesday. April opened higher in sympathy withHenry Hub cash market prices, which eked out a couple-cent gain onthe day, but it was limited to a 4-cent trading range with arelatively light 31,462 contracts changing hands.

The April Nymex contract once again failed to break above majorresistance at $2.19 on Tuesday, and as a result, the spot monthfinished the day down 3.2 cents to $2.137. Total estimated volumecame in at 34,371.

Marking the start of construction related to projects thatultimately will increase pipeline capacity into New England by morethan 20%, Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) andMaritimes & Northeast Pipeline began a crossing of thePiscataqua River between Newington, NH, and Eliot, ME. The crossingis the first stage in the construction of the PNGTS/Maritimes JointFacilities Project, which represents the southernmost portion ofeach pipeline.

Natural gas producers scored a victory Wednesday when FERC ruledthey could post surety bonds in lieu of multi-million dollarrefunds to customers that fast coming due on March 9th. The bondmethod guarantees that customers will receive their refundpayments, and it gives producers what they seek most – a delay inpaying out the amounts until disputes over the refunds calculationsare resolved. The downside of this option is that producers will berequired to continue paying interest on the refund principal aslong as the bond remains in effect. Producers also have thealternative of paying their refund amounts into escrow accounts.