Easy

A vast majority of the cash market apparently decided to take it easy Wednesday and await further developments. Mild softness at a few Northeast points and losses between a nickel and 15 cents in San Juan Basin and the Rockies were the only aberrations in an otherwise basically flat price landscape.

The choice over whether to buy or sell natural gas futures was an easy one to make Wednesday morning. Confronted with a tropical storm that had not strengthened as expected overnight, traders elected to sell the market with a vengeance, pushing the October contract to its lowest level since last Tuesday. Creating a whopping 13-cent gap on the daily bar chart, the October contract started its penultimate trading session by opening well into negative territory. After stabilizing briefly during the late morning, the prompt month was hit with another wave of selling in the afternoon. It finished at $3.494, down 24.8 cents for the day.

It’s not easy for marketers to make anyone happy these days. Producer customers in particular can be especially temperamental. But a new survey by Mastio & Co. shows that some marketers have been particularly good at retaining and satisfying customers even in these difficult times.

It’s not easy for marketers to make anyone happy these days. Producer customers in particular can be especially temperamental. Executives at Apache Corp. probably would rather roast a marketer over an open fire than invite him over to do business (see Daily GPI, Aug. 19, April 25). But a new survey by Mastio & Co. shows that some marketers have been particularly good at retaining and satisfying customers even in these difficult times.

Despite weather in the East more representative of early September than late October, natural gas prices pressed higher Monday as commercial fund buyers buoyed prices to levels not seen since late August. The November contract received the biggest boost, checking 12.6 cents higher to close at $2.807. The 12-month strip lagged slightly, notching a 8.1-cent gain to $3.171.

It was an easy call to predict lower prices for the low-demand Memorial Day weekend, so nobody got caught by surprise Friday when an across-the-board dive swept the market. No point fell less than 20 cents, and western declines tended to be significantly larger than that.

Creating a stand-alone transmission company is easier said than done, and companies mulling such a move, should be prepared to face a slew of impediments and surprises along the way, according to several executives who appeared last week at the Energy Bar Association’s 55th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Lacking little new input from weather or futures, the cashmarket decided to take it easy for the most part Tuesday. Flat toslightly higher pricing dominated in most areas, with most of thelarger gains of about a dime or more occurring at Rockies/San Juanpoints.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, cash prices plunged acrossthe board Tuesday. It was an easy call to make considering theresidual effect of Monday afternoon’s steep screen dive and warmingweather trends that are likely to get even warmer next week,sources said.