Digit

Most Gulf Coast and Northeast prices were jumping by double-digit amounts Tuesday morning in response to growing offshore production shut-ins and the previous day’s screen spike. The gains tended to range from less than a dime at a few Gulf points to about 30 cents at FGT Zone 3, where Destin’s outage contributed greatly to supply shortfalls.

Most points registered double-digit losses ranging from a little more than a dime to about a quarter Monday. The exceptions of declines less than a dime tended to cluster in the Rockies and California, while significantly larger plunges of more than 30 cents and 80 cents were recorded at the Florida citygate and San Juan Basin respectively.

Prices fell about 10-20 cents across the board Thursday in what traders generally considered as “reality” catching up with the gas market. But one producer is expecting at least a mild rally today after the screen turned a negative morning into an afternoon settlement that was a little more than a nickel higher.

After gapping lower for the second-straight session, natural gas futures shuffled sideways within a very tight range Thursday as buyers and sellers were just about evenly matched. However, the price damage that had been done in the overnight access session was undeniable and that weakness proved enough to propel December prices to new 31-month lows at $2.52 shortly after the opening bell yesterday. The contract finished at $2.551, down 12.5 cents for the session and nearly 25 cents beneath Tuesday’s $2.80 close. Heavy estimated volume of 85,193 punctuated the bears’ statement.

Despite double-digit losses in the cash market, natural gas futures finished the week with only a slight downtick Friday as traders were unable for the second day in a row to press prices beneath support at $2.83. The December contract finished the session at $2.925, down 3.5 cents for the day and 32.3 cents for the week. The winter strip followed suit, slipping 2.2 cents to $3.066. However, the rest of the months were resilient to the price weakness, with all contracts from April 2002 forward notching a gain for the session. Trading activity was spare, with as an estimated volume of just 61,836.

After a bumpy ride early last week marked by double-digit price swings, natural gas futures coasted smoothly into the weekend Thursday and Friday as traders elected to wait until a clearer fundamental and technical picture is available. By failing to break out of Thursday’s 15-cent trading range, the December contract notched a second-straight “inside day” on the daily chart. It finished at $3.248, down 4.2 cents for the session Friday, but up 6.5 cents for the week.

Buoyed by double-digit gains in the cash market, along with the release of another in a string of bullish long-range weather outlooks, natural gas futures erupted higher Tuesday, as traders pressured the market to new four-week highs. The November contract gapped a dime above Monday’s high, and never looked back yesterday, finishing with an impressive 21.4-cent advance and $2.592 closing price. Trading volume was high, with an estimated 90,649 contracts changing hands.

With the exception of hefty double-digit upticks at California points, the rest of the cash market was mostly an array of flatness mixed with small increases and decreases Tuesday. Expectations of another large storage injection figure this afternoon and the approach of cooldowns in key market areas such as the Northeast had several sources looking for general softness today.

Prices emerged from the weekend to resume the slide that dominated much of last week’s market. Only the California border-SoCalGas managed to show a gain for the day as a terribly weak screen, continued lack of fundamental support and expectations of another big storage injection report this week combined to push nearly all points down between 10 and 20 cents Monday.