Debuts

After 18 months in the making, FERC yesterday unveiled itsmuch-anticipated mega-rule that tackles a full plate of post-Order636 reforms designed to promote greater efficiency and fairness inan ever-changing natural gas market.

October Henry Hub futures appeared likely to continue lastweek’s downward correction early yesterday in its debut as the newnear-month contract. It opened down nearly 4 cents and took anearly step backward to $2.860, but local buying prompted an11.5-cent intra-day surge to a high of $2.975. The contract settledat $2.969, up 4.7 cents on the day, and the relatively strongup-tick continued during the after-hours Access trading session,with October inching up 1.6 cents to $2.985 as of 6:30 p.m.

Thursdays have been a bearish trader’s best friend lately withthree of the last four featuring follow-through selling on theheels of some hefty storage refill estimates. However, yesterdaydid not follow true to form, as traders digested alarger-than-expected 92 Bcf American Gas Association storage refillestimate then managed to push July up 2.5 cents to settle at$2.071. In doing so, several traders remarked, July exhibitedJune-like characteristics marked by narrow trading ranges amidrelatively low volume. June looked to expire without much fussearlier in the week, then the bottom dropped out on the last day.It “looks as if that was more a case of people liquidatingpositions then anything,” a trader reasoned.