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March natural gas futures managed to climb into the plus column Wednesday in its last trading day following four consecutive days of losses.

March natural gas futures managed to climb into the plus column Wednesday in its last trading day following four consecutive days of losses.

Although a few points returned to the “plus” column Monday after Friday’s across the board declines, prices continued to drop in most of the cash market as typical shoulder-month weather and the previous Friday’s 31.6-cent plunge by the expiring April futures contract depressed physical quotes.

Natural gas futures bulls put Tuesday in the win column as the January contract shot up 44.3 cents to close at $5.737 on the news that January might not be as warm as many had previously expected. However, some traders weren’t ready to put bull’s horns on yet, chalking up Tuesday’s gains to short-covering by funds unless proven otherwise over the next few trading sessions.

July natural gas futures struggled to make it to the “plus” column Tuesday, but in spite of the firm finish short-term traders are anticipating a period of weakness before any further market advance. At the close July added 1.9 cents to $12.952 and August tacked on 1.8 cents to $13.055. July crude oil skidded 60 cents to $134.01/bbl.

Natural gas pipeline owner Williams Cos. moved into the financial win column in the 2004 fourth quarter from the year-earlier period due to a gain associated with an insurance arbitration award and reduced debt levels.

Natural gas pipeline owner Williams Cos. moved into the financial win column in the fourth quarter of 2004 due in part to a gain associated with an insurance arbitration award and reduced debt levels.

Notes: Prices are in U.S. $/MMbtu for dry gas traded on Thursday May 23, 2002 for May delivery. Dashes in the change column indicate that insufficient information was collected to update the corresponding price. Comma delimited format (Premium Service)Tab delimited format (Premium Service) ©Copyright 2002 Intelligence Press, Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report…

While most large producers reported net income in the positivecolumn in the first quarter of 1998, it was not a quarter most willwant to remember, as returns compared to the first quarter of 1999dropped anywhere from Exxon’s relatively conservative 44% to 81%down for Enron Oil and Gas or a drop from $177 million in earningsin 1Q’98 for Occidental Petroleum to a $70 million loss in 1Q’99.