Building

With colder weather gradually building across much of the eastern half of the U.S., prices were up — by small amounts in a large majority of cases — at nearly all points Thursday. The 8.9-cent rebound by January futures a day earlier also contributed to cash strength.

Building off Friday’s impressive gains, December natural gas futures on Monday continued to test the upside as traders braced for a cold spell that is expected to affect much of the eastern half of the United States. The prompt-month contract reached a high of $4.293 before closing out the regular session at $4.271, up 10.7 cents from Friday’s finish.

Building off the December contract’s 12.7-cent gain during its first day in the limelight Thursday, traders pushed the front-month contract through the $4 psychological barrier on Friday to close at $4.038, tacking on another 14.8 cents in the process.

The costs of building and operating upstream oil and gas facilities fell drastically in Q1 2009 after a prolonged period of escalation. Since then they have hit bottom and were beginning to show signs of an upward trend at the end of Q1 2010, according to indexes developed by IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates (IHS CERA).

Williams Cos., which has been building its portfolio in the Marcellus Shale, agreed Tuesday to pay $501 million in cash to add 42,000 net acres to its leasehold in Susquehanna County, PA. The Tulsa-based producer also is leasing an additional 8,000 net acres in the state in another “attractive” area.

Two veteran energy executives are building a regionally focused gas marketing business in New York and Pennsylvania on the back of the Marcellus Shale. EnergyMark LLC recently bought New York and Pennsylvania assets of Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division LLC, which is a subsidiary of Constellation Energy Group Inc.

Two veteran energy executives are building a regionally focused gas marketing business in New York and Pennsylvania on the back of the Marcellus Shale. EnergyMark LLC recently bought New York and Pennsylvania assets of Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division LLC, which is a subsidiary of Constellation Energy Group Inc.

Two veteran energy executives are building a regionally focused gas marketing business in New York and Pennsylvania on the back of the Marcellus Shale. EnergyMark LLC recently bought New York and Pennsylvania assets of Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division LLC, which is a subsidiary of Constellation Energy Group Inc.

Icy conditions building from the Midcontinent and Texas through the Southeast and heavy snowfalls predicted in the Northeast and Midwest failed to revive most of the cash market Thursday. Only Northeast citygates, where spikes were most often in triple digits, got a significant boost from the new blast of arctic cold enveloping most of North America.