Brutally

A La Nina event off the west coast of South America, which brought brutally cold and snowy weather to a large part of the country last winter, is expected to again influence conditions this winter, prompting especially harsh temperatures and snowfall across the Midwest and Great Lakes region, while the Northeast can expect winter 2011-2012 to be somewhat less extreme than last year, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.com.

The plunge in oil prices in recent months hasn’t begun to pressure North American chemical producers to shift their feedstocks from natural gas liquids (NGL) products, according to midstream and chemical company executives.

Despite the rapid withdrawal of natural gas storage supplies due to a brutally cold December and early January, “stubbornly high” U.S. production, more liquefied natural gas imports and the return of coal as a competitor in the power sector “will likely work to contain the upside potential of prices in 2010,” according to a new research note from Barclays Capital analysts James Crandell, Biliana Pehlivanova and Michael Zenker.

Despite the rapid withdrawal of natural gas storage supplies due to a brutally cold December and early January, “stubbornly high” U.S. production, more liquefied natural gas imports and the return of coal as a competitor in the power sector “will likely work to contain the upside potential of prices in 2010,” according to a new research note from Barclays Capital analysts James Crandell, Biliana Pehlivanova and Michael Zenker.

Despite the rapid withdrawal of natural gas storage supplies due to a brutally cold December and early January, “stubbornly high” U.S. production, more liquefied natural gas imports and the return of coal as a competitor in the power sector “will likely work to contain the upside potential of prices in 2010,” according to a new research note from Barclays Capital analysts James Crandell, Biliana Pehlivanova and Michael Zenker.

A weekend hangover was apparent Monday as brutally cold temperature forecasts for the East did little to spark near-month natural gas futures higher. The February contract closed out Monday’s regular session at $5.542, up only 2.6 cents from Friday’s finish.

Following a brutally cold and snowy Martin Luther King Day weekend for most of the U.S. and Canada, the forecast looked to be more of the same for the next couple of days before a moderate warm-up begins late this week. But despite the continuation of heavy heating load prices fell Tuesday at all points, including triple-digit plunges at Northeast citygates.