Course

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal has changed course and put his support behind a federal plan to manage oil and natural gas development on the Pinedale Anticline, which allows, among other things, up to 4,000 new wells to be drilled.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal has changed course and put his support behind a federal plan to manage oil and natural gas development on the Pinedale Anticline, which allows, among other things, up to 4,000 new wells to be drilled.

Natural gas traders on Tuesday breathed a small sigh of relief as the unpredictable Hurricane Ike changed paths to a more westerly course that should spare much of the Gulf of Mexico’s energy infrastructure. Despite the news, October natural gas futures settled almost unchanged at $7.535, due likely to the fact that it is still early and the storm’s path could very well change again.

With Hurricane Dolly holding its anticipated course and impacting Texas near the Mexico border Wednesday afternoon (see related story), traders resumed their pounding on the energies Wednesday as front-month natural gas futures closed below $10 for the first time since April 11.

After spiraling lower in Thursday morning trade, June natural gas futures prices reversed course following the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 85 Bcf natural gas storage injection report for the week ended May 16, springing near-month futures to a new high for the up move that began back in August 2007. While the injection was well within expectations, the prompt-month contract spiked higher before backing off to close at $11.697, still good for a 5.7-cent gain over Wednesday’s regular session finish.

Natural gas and crude futures values declined in unison on Wednesday as traders continued to debate whether the bullish move had finally run its course or the recent price pullback was just a pause before the next push higher. April natural gas recorded a low of $8.990 on the day before closing at $9.024, down 39 cents from Tuesday’s close. May natural gas followed suit, shedding 39.2 cents to finish the day at $9.112.

The trends that have driven the recent rise in natural gas prices could reverse course going into spring, energy analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said last week.

The trends that have driven the recent rise in natural gas prices could reverse course going into spring, according to energy analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc.

Hurricane Dean’s westerly Gulf of Mexico-sparing course continued to beat the natural gas futures market lower for a second consecutive session as traders appeared ready to resume the downtrend that was interrupted two weeks ago by storm hype. The September contract put in a $5.770 low Tuesday before closing at $5.817, down 22.3 cents on the day.