After a lower opening failed to attract much in the way offollow-through selling, the natural gas futures market clawed itsway back to post a modest gain Friday as traders were hit a bevy offundamental and technical factors. The January contract closed up1.9 cents at $2.655 while the rest of the strip closed downslightly.
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Access Trading May Be Power Futures’ Last Hope
The New York Mercantile Exchange’s electricity futures contractsfailed to take off for a number of reasons but the market is worseoff because of their failure, according to Jack Cogen, president ofNew York City-based NatSource.
Jan., Feb. Show Double Digit Declines
A failed technical move higher, followed by a brisk liquidationof fresh longs left even veteran traders shaking their heads in thenatural gas pit Friday, as prices plummeted lower amid heavytrading. The January contract was dealt the largest blow, tumbling13 cents lower to close at $2.331. February also experienced doubledigit losses, slipping 10.3 cents to $2.335.
Avoca Storage Sold to Blue Dolphin
In a bid to complete what others have failed to accomplish, BlueDolphin Gas Storage LLC announced its plans to purchase the AvocaGas Storage facility from Northeastern Gas Caverns LLC last week.With the purchase, Blue Dolphin will become the third owner of thefacility this year. No financial terms of the transaction weredisclosed.
Technical Failure, Weather Prompts Futures Lower
After a strong opening failed to attract the buying necessary tofill the chart gap up to $2.52, the natural gas futures marketsagged Friday, as traders turned once again to the deleteriouseffects of above-normal temperatures in both short and long rangeforecasts.
Warm Weather Depressing Cash Market Again
Prices failed to maintain the upward momentum that had begun theweek, slipping lower by a nickel to a dime at nearly all pointsTuesday. Traders were unable to ignore the cumulative negativedemand effect of more than 40 cities setting all-time hightemperature records for the month of November over the previousweek. And although one marketer said the screen had little bearingon day-to-day cash pricing, the nickel-plus drop in futuresprovided no support for cash.
Technicals, Weather Forecasts Bail out Bulls
After a lower opening failed to attract follow-through selling,natural gas futures rallied Friday as traders covered shorts aheadof the weekend. The December contract notched its low for the dayat $2.755 in the first hour of trading before bubbling higher tofinish at $2.884, a 5.8-cent advance on the day. Estimated volumewas above-average, with 80,226 contracts changing hands.
INGAA Seeks Rehearing of Sea Robin Remand
A major pipeline group last week sought rehearing of FERC’sremand decision on Sea Robin Pipeline on the grounds that it failedto include the “behind-the-plant” factor when determining thejurisdictional status of the offshore gas pipeline.
Cash Market Goes Into Anticipated Swoon
Prices failed to fake out anyone Wednesday. With Tuesday’s latesoftness on the Nymex screen carrying over into Wednesday and thesubsidence of “the big bakeoff” in the Northeast, as one producercalled it, it didn’t take a crystal ball to make a bear marketcall. The larger declines on either side of a dime tended tocluster in the Gulf Coast, Appalachian, Northeast, Midcontinent andMidwest markets, while western drops generally were around a nickelor less. Unlike the late screen-related fallbacks reported Tuesday,traders said a number of points saw slight upticks in late dealsWednesday.
Warmth Boosts Western Prices While East Levels Off
Prices failed to move much more than a penny or two up or downMonday at most eastern points, but power generation load was strongenough to support moderate upticks in the West. Trading activitywas slow for both June swing and July gas, said a marketer who sawGulf Coast pipes come off 3-4 cents from their early-morning highs.Cash was essentially waiting for something to happen, he added,”because neither it [cash market] nor the screen is going anywherethese days.”