Doubt

Call it “storm hype” if you will, but there was no doubt that the ominously growing threat to Gulf of Mexico production from then-Tropical Depression Five (upgraded to Tropical Storm Ernesto Friday afternoon, well after cash trading had finished) was a major reason why prices increased at a sizeable majority of points Friday.

Defense witnesses for Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling on Tuesday continued to refute claims by government witnesses, attempting to cast doubt about whether layoffs were actually reassigned and whether international assets were in poor shape, as the prosecution claims. Skilling is expected to take the stand in his defense within the next two days.

There had been a little doubt about whether the approach of a winter storm in the Midwest/Plains region and colder temperatures in the Northeast and parts of the West would be able to overcome the negativity of screen losses totaling about 60 cents over the course of Thursday and Monday and generate a price rally.

Natural gas bears roared back to life Monday and put to rest any doubt about who is in charge of the market. It took less than an hour for these sellers to rescind Friday’s 24-cent advance, but that was not enough. By the time the dust had settled and the last trade tabulated, the numbers for Monday’s trading session were impressive. With its $6.762 settle, the December contract had fallen 35.3 cents from Friday’s close and down nearly $2.80 from its late October peak.

Natural gas bears roared back to life Monday and put to rest any doubt about who is in charge of the market. It took less than an hour for these sellers to rescind Friday’s 24-cent advance, but that was not enough. By the time the dust had settled and the last trade tabulated, the numbers for Monday’s trading session were impressive. With its $6.762 settle, the December contract had fallen 35.3 cents from Friday’s close and down nearly $2.80 from its late October peak.

With doubt continuing to grow that the United States can satisfy its natural gas growth needs in-house, liquified natural gas (LNG) importation continues to gain spotlight attention as a means to augment domestic gas supply.

With doubt continuing to grow that the United States can satisfy its natural gas growth needs in-house, liquified natural gas (LNG) importation continues to gain spotlight attention as a means to augment domestic gas supply.

After spending most of the session near Monday’s $4.94 high, the November natural gas futures contract sold off late in the session Tuesday as weak longs took profits ahead of the Thursday release of potentially bearish storage data.

Stemming two months of slow, downward price momentum, the natural gas market turned abruptly higher Monday as traders received a one-two weather combination punch. In addition to the first blast of cool weather descending on parts of the Northeast over the weekend, the futures market was bullied higher by longer-range forecasts calling for below-normal temperatures this winter in the East. With that the November 2003 contract made its debut as prompt month in ostentatious fashion, gapping higher at the opening bell and advancing 27.4 cents to close at $4.895.