Defying

Canadian natural gas exports, defying consensus forecasts of shrinkage, held firm and even increased modestly during first quarter of 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said.

The market appeared to be bowing a bit lower than before Friday in acknowledgment of the mostly moderate weather fundamentals that it had largely been defying in the previous two weeks. Even a 6.7-cent gain a day earlier by October futures in the face of an obviously bearish storage injection report failed to prevent a modest majority of points from seeing small declines for the weekend.

Drilling activity in Texas declined steadily through April, reflecting “very weak natural gas markets and defying a crude price rally,” according to the Texas Petro Index (TPI), which was issued on Friday. Employment in the state’s exploration and production (E&P) industry has dropped to its lowest level since January 2008.

Drilling activity in Texas declined steadily through April, reflecting “very weak natural gas markets and defying a crude price rally,” according to the Texas Petro Index (TPI), which was issued on Friday. Employment in the state’s exploration and production (E&P) industry has dropped to its lowest level since January 2008.

The cash market followed up Friday’s robust increases across the board with modest declines at most points Monday. After defying light weather-based load for the most part in the previous week, prices appeared to be owning up to the fact that heating/cooling demand remains relatively scarce in most areas. The 12.2-cent drop by futures Friday was a further depressant to Monday’s cash numbers.

Canadian natural gas exporters continue to make gains, defying consensus forecasts that their role as suppliers to “continental” North American trading will fade due to shrinking reserves and rising industrial demand in Alberta.

Canadian natural gas exporters continue to make gains, defying consensus forecasts that their role as suppliers to “continental” North American trading will fade due to shrinking reserves and rising industrial demand in Alberta.

Growth has been sustained in Canadian natural gas exports to the United States for three consecutive quarters, defying conventional wisdom that supplies have peaked and are entering decline.

Defying the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California authorities Wednesday challenged the federal panel’s order from last month, which stated that by next year the state must replace its five-member, governor-appointed oversight board at the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) with a larger, “more independent” board of governors. In effect, California officials are telling FERC it has no legal authority to force the state to do so.