Closing

Unless there is a drastic turn in the weather in the closing days of the year, 2007 will be one of the 10 warmest years the contiguous United States has experienced since national records began in 1895, according to preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center. The global surface temperature for 2007 is expected to be the fifth warmest since worldwide records began in 1880, NOAA said.

Unless there is a drastic turn in the weather in the closing days of the year, 2007 will be one of the 10 warmest years the contiguous United States has experienced since national records began in 1895, according to preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center. The global surface temperature for 2007 is expected to be the fifth warmest since worldwide records began in 1880, NOAA said.

January natural gas futures resumed their assault on $7 price support in Monday trade, recording a low of $7.010 before closing out the day at $7.032, down 12.3 cents from Friday’s finish. While traders were debating storage levels and weather forecasts, they were also forced to account for the possibility of an out of season tropical storm, which was gaining strength east of Puerto Rico.

Following a week of strong gains, December natural gas futures underwent some consolidation on Friday, recording a low of $8.355 before closing out the week at $8.418, down 21.9 cents from Thursday but 61 cents higher than the previous Friday’s close. The November contract expired Monday at $7.269.

Houston-based Linn Energy LLC’s share price jumped more than $4.50/share before closing Monday after the company and a group of investors announced a deal to acquire Dominion Resources Inc.’s natural gas-heavy Midcontinent properties for $2.05 billion. With the announcement, Dominion now has sold or agreed to sell all of the exploration and production (E&P) operations that it plans to divest from its portfolio.

With the Atlantic hurricane season officially begun and July natural gas closing at $7.878 on Friday, traders expected that another attempt at breaking above the $8 threshold could very well be in the cards in the near future. That future came earlier than expected on Monday as the prompt month punched above the psychological $8 resistance level to close at $8.191, up 31.3 cents on the day.

Spurred by a bearish natural gas storage injection, June natural gas futures on Thursday dropped for a fifth consecutive session, recording a low of $7.650 before closing out the day at $7.681, down 7.6 cents from Wednesday’s close. During the streak of down days, the prompt month — which expires Tuesday — has shed 39.4 cents.

Resting and regrouping appeared to be the themes Wednesday as June natural gas traded a slim 7-cent range before closing out the day at $7.730, up 1.2 cents from Tuesday’s close.

May natural gas futures traded within a slim range for the second consecutive session on Friday before closing at $7.801, down 12.3 cents on the day but 19.4 cents higher than the previous week’s close on Thursday April 5.