Bullish

After seeing June futures gain 35.2 cents during the previous two regular trading sessions, bullish natural gas traders were forced to cool their heels on Tuesday as the contract ended up dropping 11 cents to close at $3.615.

Propelled almost entirely by the previous day’s 49-cent futures spike following a modestly bullish storage injection report, the cash market rose at nearly all points Friday. Although it was on the light side, residual heating load in Canada, the northern half of the U.S. and to some extent in the eastern end of the South provided auxiliary price support, and apparently the usual weekend decline of industrial demand had little impact.

The cash market defied the ostensibly bullish influences of the Northeast and Rockies joining the Midwest in cooling trends that would take low temperatures to around freezing or less at most locations Thursday. Instead it preferred to be guided more by the previous day’s fall of 26.4 cents by March futures in posting losses at most points Wednesday.

Undeterred by lower commodity prices that slammed quarterly profits, Royal Dutch Shell sounded positively bullish last week, announcing that it plans to raise dividends and increase capital spending this year.

Natural gas futures traders took Thursday morning’s “bullish” report that 186 Bcf was removed from underground storage last week mostly in stride in morning trade, but the March contract — in its first prompt-month regular session action — made an afternoon push higher to close at $4.576, up 15.6 cents from Wednesday.

Undeterred by lower commodity prices that slammed quarterly profits, Royal Dutch Shell sounded positively bullish Thursday, announcing that it plans to raise dividends and increase capital spending this year.

February natural gas futures managed to rebound 13.8 cents to close at $4.780 on Wednesday, but market experts were quick to put the brakes on any bullish optimism. Even with brutal cold lingering in a number of important gas-consuming regions, most traders were quick to note that the slumping economy remains the lead story in commodity trading.

The new owner of Commerce Energy, Toronto-based Universal Energy Group (UEG), is bullish on competitive retail energy in California and other states in which Commerce continues to operate, according to UEG’s Shawn Dym, senior vice president for business development. UEG plans to continue operating under the Commerce name in the United States.

The new owner of Commerce Energy, Toronto-based Universal Energy Group (UEG), is bullish on competitive retail energy in California and other states in which Commerce continues to operate, according to UEG’s Shawn Dym, senior vice president for business development. UEG plans to continue operating under the Commerce name in the United States.