Drift

The U.S. natural gas rig count peaked more than a year ago in August 2010 and continues to drift slowly lower, but the country’s still swimming in gas and there’s no drought in sight, Raymond James & Associates Inc. said last week.

The U.S. natural gas rig count peaked more than a year ago in August 2010 and continues to drift slowly lower, but the country’s still swimming in gas and there’s no drought in sight, Raymond James & Associates Inc. said Monday.

Prices continued to drift lower at nearly all points Thursday, but the rate of decline slowed. Whereas double-digit drops had ruled the market Wednesday, most of Thursday’s softening was by less than a dime. Minuscule losses of only 2-3 cents were scattered through several market areas, and Northwest’s domestic and Sumas points managed to stay flat and eke out a small gain respectively.

Prices continued to recede along with severe winter weather Wednesday. The declines also continued to grow more consistent across geographical lines. With the exception of a plunge of more than 40 cents at the Florida citygate (which still left it the market’s most expensive point), virtually all other points fell between about a nickel and 15 cents.

Mired in a bog of bearish influences, cash prices continued to drift downward Wednesday at nearly all non-California points. Much like the day before, most of the downturn ranged between about a nickel and a dime, but with larger drops in the teens recorded at several Northeast citygates.

Prices continued to drift lower again Thursday, but the declines were getting smaller and traders reported detecting hints of a strong possibility for a rebound today. Most of yesterday’s drops were around a dime or less, and scattered points such as intra-Alberta, Sumas, Texas Eastern-East Texas, the Florida and Algonquin citygates, Kern River and the California border-PG&E were flat to a tad higher.

For the most part, late-December incremental prices continued todrift lower by small amounts Tuesday in quiet activity as tradersincreasing focused their attention on January business. Evenbidweek was still dragging, complained a Midcontinent producer;”there’s lot of talking, but few actual deals.”

Cash prices softened a bit Tuesday in mostly featureless tradingas major markets in the Midwest and Northeast cooled off. Themajority of points saw prices ranging from flat to down about anickel with no single region standing out as especially strong orweak. About the only exception to that general rule wasintra-Alberta, which started off around Monday’s C$2.04-05 averagebut quickly ramped up to near the top end of Monday’s range andwound up gaining about a nickel overall, a marketer reported. Forwhatever reason provincial field receipts have been lower thanexpected this week, she said, although only a few plants are stillundergoing annual turnaround maintenance.