Breather

The cash market took a breather from bidweek activities and managed to trade less than a penny higher overall Wednesday. Weakness at Midwest points was made up by some strength in New England and eastern points as hot, humid weather was forecast for the next three days. At the close of futures trading September had eased 3.8 cents to $3.171 and October fell 4.1 cents to $3.171 as well. September crude oil added 85 cents to $88.91/bbl.

Traders on Tuesday were taking a breather from the recent freefall in natural gas futures as the November contract treaded water for a majority of the session before closing at $4.557, up 4.4 cents from Monday’s close.

The cash market took a midweek breather following two days of mostly strong gains at nearly all points. Wednesday’s quotes were mixed but predominately to the downside, with many points flat or close to it in either direction. Cooling trends Thursday in the Northeast, Midwest and Rockies are keeping heating load fairly sizeable, but it is likely that with the traditional end of storage withdrawal season less than a week away, mandatory withdrawal ratchets are starting to supplant spot gas purchases more than before.

After taking a mid-week breather to test the upside, near-month natural gas futures on Friday were back to the recent routine of probing support at $7. January natural gas futures closed out the week at $7.025, down 16.8 cents from Thursday and 13 cents lower than the previous week’s finish.

Despite softening natural gas prices, the Oklahoma Energy Index (OEI) has been on the rise after leveling off and taking a bit of a breather in recent months. May saw a new record for the index, which was launched in 1995, and expectations are that its upward trend will continue based on strong regional energy patch fundamentals.

The Oklahoma Energy Index (OEI) is on the rise after having leveled off and taking a bit of a breather in recent months. May saw a new record for the index, which was launched in 1995.

It turned out that Wednesday’s softness was just the cash market taking a breather from this week’s price ascent based on heavy power generation load for air conditioning. The climb resumed Thursday at most points as temperatures approaching and in some cases exceeding 100 degrees will continue to sear the South, Midcontinent and Southwest into the weekend.

Stopping the streak of consecutive days of higher settles at four, natural gas futures traders took a breather Wednesday ahead of what is expected to be a bullish storage report on Thursday. February natural gas traded in a slim $7.350 to $7.540 range before settling at $7.421, down 17.6 cents on the day.

After taking a breather on Thursday from the up move, natural gas futures traders resumed course on Friday, putting in a high of $6.640 before closing out the week at $6.601, up 30.9 cents on the day and 41.7 cents higher than the previous Friday’s close.