Directions

The proposed Constitution Pipeline has come under attack at FERC from all directions, as landowners and federal officials call on the agency to consider alternatives and put the Marcellus-to-New York natural gas pipeline through a rigorous analysis.

In Appalachia, gas from the Marcellus Shale is pushing out in all directions. Producer demand for takeaway capacity is great, prompting Spectra to announce this week its Northeast Expansion Transmission (NEXT) project to serve markets in Eastern Canada and its Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project to meet New England demand with gas from Pennsylvania.

Battered by negative influences seeming to come from all directions — mostly mild to chilly (but not particularly cold) weather, weak prior-day futures, storage injection capacity growing ever tighter and any tropical storm threat to Gulf of Mexico production deemed unlikely for the rest of the season — the cash market fell at nearly all points Thursday.

The recent unpredictability of energy futures markets was on display yet again Wednesday as crude and natural gas broke ranks to explore different price directions. August crude gained $2.60 to close at $143.57/bbl, while August natural gas dropped 11.6 cents to finish at $13.389.

A couple of Pacific Northwest utilities were sent in opposite directions by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services Thursday as the credit rating agency boosted Spokane, WA-based Avista Corp. one notch to “BBB-” and Cascade Natural Gas Corp. was granted its request to withdraw its “BBB+” corporate and senior unsecured debt rating.

Bringing to a close a week of large moves in both directions, February natural gas futures ended on a high note Friday. After recording a high of $7.190, the contract closed out the week 27 cents higher at $7.175, up 27 cents on the day and 28.9 cents higher than the previous Friday’s close. February options went off the board Friday and February futures will follow suit Monday.

After a tumultuous week that saw wide price swings in both directions, significant heat, the coming and going of a tropical storm and the demise of a prominent hedge fund, September natural gas futures on Friday took a much deserved rest, trading within a slim 22-cent range before settling at $7.246, down 4.6 cents on the day and 6.2 cents lower than the previous week’s finish.

Despite enduring a topsy-turvy week of large swings in both directions, March natural gas futures finished the week within shouting distance of where they began. After hitting a high of $8.650 late in the afternoon, the prompt month settled at $8.613, up 26.6 cents on the day and 10.6 cents higher than the contract’s previous-week close.

Failing to make up their mind on direction Tuesday, traders pushed February natural gas to a low on the day of $6.245 as of 11:30 a.m. (EST) before changing directions to explore higher.