Continued

Physical natural gas slipped about two cents nationwide Wednesday as weather forecasts continued to show moderation, and analysts were expecting the earliest start to the injection season since 2007. On average, eastern points were off about a penny and on the West Coast next-day deliveries shed two cents to a nickel. Bucking that trend was both the Henry Hub cash and futures markets. March physical deliveries at the Hub were up 2 cents to $2.21 and April natural gas futures added 2.5 cents to $2.360 at the close. May crude oil rose $1.20 to $107.27/bbl.

Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania continued to remain level in February.

The cash market continued to slide lower Thursday with prices mostly dropping less than a nickel, except in the northeast, which recorded a handful of double-digit drops. Midwest points were only modestly lower, while a few spots in the Rockies and in California managed to tally gains.

Physical natural gas continued lower Tuesday as the market grappled with a tsunami-like influx of warmer-than-normal temperatures east of the Rockies and the ongoing need to purge storage gas.

Preliminary data released indicates that North Dakota oil and gas production continued to soar in January and the state now ranks third nationally in average daily oil production, surpassing California and following only Texas and Alaska. With the Bakken formation, North Dakota continues to ride the shale boom.

The cash market continued lower in Friday trading for weekend through Monday delivery as market participants noted continuing mild weather and the movement of gas out of storage into the market. Particular weakness was noted in the desert Southwest, southern California, Rockies and Northeast points.

In response to continued low natural gas prices and “as an effort to help bring U.S. natural gas supply and demand into better balance,” Chesapeake Energy Corp. said late Tuesday it has now upped its curtailments to about 1 Bcf/d of gross operated gas output, or about 1.5% of U.S. Lower 48 gas production, primarily in the Haynesville and Barnett shale plays.

The intent of continued research by the Department of Energy (DOE) into hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is “can we help drive the technology development forward,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a Senate committee Thursday.

U.S. imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) last year continued the downward trend that began in 2009, according to data compiled by Pan EurAsian Enterprises Inc. Last year’s imports were well less than half of what they were in 2007, the peak year for imports, and they were slightly less than the level seen in 2008.