Burdensome

August natural gas futures limped to a weak expiration as traders watched petroleum futures reel under a burdensome inventory report and acknowledged that Thursday’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory report was likely to show additions greater than historical averages.

Amerada Hess’ declining production, low reserve replacement and burdensome cost structure, which is among the highest in the industry, prompted Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade the company’s debt to junk status Friday.