Downs

ExxonMobil Corp., whose international portfolio more often than not has fortified it from the ups and downs of the volatile commodities market, failed to outrun global uncertainty and lower U.S. natural gas prices in the third quarter, with profits off 7% year/year to $9.6 billion, $750 million less than a year ago. Production also declined to its lowest level in three years.

Despite dry gas production curtailments and rig lay-downs nationwide, Northeast production will grow by 1 Bcf/d from its current 8.3 Bcf/d by the end of the year as the Marcellus Shale “seems impervious to the unfavorable economics,” Bentek Energy LLC said in its Forward Curve Quarterly.

There are billions of dollars worth of assets on the market and “plenty of money” available to Dallas-based Exco Resources Inc. as it pursues several potential acquisitions in the gas market, Exco Resources Inc. CEO Doug Miller said during a conference call with analysts Wednesday.

With persistently low prices and a production glut, U.S. natural gas markets are in flux. Keeping track of the ups and downs in production data, as rigs move to more oily plays, which in turn affects output and pipeline capacity, can be a challenge for market forecasters.

After a wild week of ups and downs as January futures traded between $4.328 and $4.637, traders on Friday took a bit of a break as the prompt-month contract traded in a tighter range and ended up closing the regular session at $4.417, down 1.8 cents from Thursday’s finish but 6.8 cents higher than the previous week’s close.

Following the ups and downs of the last few regular trading sessions, natural gas futures traders highlighted the uncertainty on direction in the market on Tuesday as the December contract traded in a nearly 20-cent range between $3.750 and $3.928 before closing at $3.870, up 3.8 cents from Monday’s finish.

Completing a week of wild roller-coaster ups and downs before basically returning to where it had begun the week, the May natural gas futures contract on Friday streaked higher to close the day at $4.070, up 16.1 cents from Thursday’s close but 1.6 cents less than the previous week’s finish.

Completing a week of wild roller-coaster ups and downs before basically returning to where it had begun the week, the May natural gas futures contract on Friday streaked higher to close the day at $4.070, up 16.1 cents from Thursday’s close but 1.6 cents less than the previous week’s finish.

The natural gas futures roller-coaster ride, complete with ups and downs, continued into a new week as the October contract — fresh off of a 32-cent jump Friday — dropped 20.2 cents Monday to close at $3.576.