Call

November natural gas futures traders on Monday continued to knock on the $5 resistance door to no avail as the contract reached a high of $4.972 in afternoon trade before closing out the regular session at $4.880, up 11 cents from Friday’s finish.

A call for mandatory clearing or pushing all over the counter (OTC) market futures products onto an exchange, particularly nonstandardized products, was one of the main points of dispute among congressmen, financial industry witnesses and critics at an extensive hearing on market reform Thursday before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

February natural gas futures continued to chase lower values Monday as near-term temperature forecasts call for a warm-up to hit the East by the end of the month. After putting in a low for the down move of $4.387 just prior to the regular session’s open, the prompt-month contract reached a high of $4.610 on the day before closing at $4.490, down 2.8 cents from Friday’s finish.

Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) is extending the public comment period for the call for information and notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on a proposed lease sale for off the coast of Virginia in 2011. The comment period was due to close on Dec. 29, but it has been extended to Jan. 13. This is the first lease sale that MMS has proposed off the East Coast in nearly three decades. The proposed sale area, which is at least 50 miles offshore and covers 2.9 million acres in water depths of 100 feet to 10,000 feet, is believed to contain 1.14 Tcf of natural gas and 130 MMbbl of crude oil, according to the agency.

Questar Corp. said Wednesday it expects third-quarter and full-year 2008 net income to be significantly above current First Call mean estimates. The company also estimates that Questar E&P 2008 natural gas and oil-equivalent production will come in at the high end of its previous guidance of 166-169 Bcfe.

Questar Corp. expects third-quarter and full-year 2008 net income to be significantly above current First Call mean estimates. The company also estimates that Questar E&P 2008 natural gas and oil-equivalent production will come in at the high end of its previous guidance of 166-169 Bcfe, it said last week.

Passage of the revised $700 billion rescue plan for financial markets in the House remains the big unknown. House Majority Leader Steny Hoy (D-MD) said he will not call up the package Friday unless he is assured of passage, CQ Today reported.

Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. CEO David Emery Thursday told financial analysts on a conference call that the energy holding company is in “excellent financial shape,” and it has no significant exposure to the current Wall Street capital crisis.

Florida Gas Transmission ended Wednesday an Overage Alert Day (OAD) that had been in effect for the previous two days, but noting that Florida forecasts call for 90-degree weather continuing for a few more days, it warned shippers of the potential for a new OAD being issued on an upcoming gas day.