Break

June natural gas and crude futures took another break from the upside Wednesday as light profit-taking was observed and traders prepared for what will likely be another bearish natural gas storage report Thursday morning for the week ending May 8. Prompt-month natural gas dropped 11.6 cents to close Wednesday’s regular session at $4.333.

Natural gas futures bulls are finding that they just can’t catch a break as values continue to plumb new lows for the move. The April contract subtracted more than a dime on Wednesday as bearish projections for Thursday’s storage report meshed with a bearish 2009 Atlantic hurricane forecast from AccuWeather.com.

After the back-and-forth activity of the last few sessions, natural gas futures traders took a break on Wednesday as the March contract showed little interest in making a move before closing at $4.532, down 1.1 cents from Tuesday.

Prices fell at all points but one Friday in anticipation of at least a modest break from the arctic cold that occupied most of the East last week. Prior-day futures weakness and the extra loss of industrial load associated with a holiday weekend were additional suppressants of cash numbers. Losses ranged from a little less than a nickel to about $6.20. A gain of less than a nickel at Malin was the exception to overall softness.

Following a roller coaster ride in which Chesapeake Energy Corp. saw its share price pummeled, the independent finally caught a break last week after it landed a fresh line of credit for a new midstream spin-off and after the market responded positively to rumors that BP plc, already a joint partner, may be eyeing some of Chesapeake’s natural gas assets.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., whose stock price has been pummeled in the last couple of months, caught a break on Thursday after it landed a fresh line of credit for a new midstream spin-off and after the market responded positively to rumors that BP plc, already a joint partner, may be eyeing some of its natural gas assets.

After dropping $4.493, or 33%, over the last three weeks of trading, August natural gas futures took a little bit of a break Monday as traders assessed the current sub-$10 price level and the market’s likely next move. Starting out the week, the front-month contract gained 7.9 cents to close at $9.163 one day ahead of expiration.

Natural gas prices are poised to break out of their $6-8 range due to a number of factors and could trade in an $8-10 range for the next two years or so, said Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon.

Natural gas prices are poised to break out of their $6-8 range due to a number of factors and could trade in an $8-10 range for the next two years or so, said Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon.