Feature

After two days of mostly small upticks to begin the week, it was time Wednesday for a large majority of small gains to be the market’s main feature. Winter may have officially begun Tuesday, but the new season wasn’t readily evident, judging from the generally mild forecasts for its second day in most of the eastern third of the U.S.

A trade group representing developers of shale gas Tuesday blasted the Academy Awards nomination of Gasland for best documentary feature, saying it grossly misrepresented the facts about the hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) practice associated with the production of shale.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the Feb. 5-9 workweek was supposed to feature above-normal temperatures in virtually all of the East and the eastern end of the Southwest (see Daily GPI, Jan. 30). But revealing the uncertainty of weather forecasts made several days in advance, the impending return of sub-freezing lows in the Midwest and New England and lows in the 30s in the lower Northeast and South resulted in double-digit price gains across the board Tuesday.

On the verge of a long holiday weekend that would feature severe winter cold in nearly all areas, prices made substantive gains across the board Friday. Transco’s Zone 6-New York City pool saw quotes run as high as $27 and recorded an average increase of more than $11 as multi-dollar spikes at Northeast citygates led the cash market uprising.

The bullishness that had been a feature of the cash market sincemidweek slowed down considerably Friday. Most eastern points rangedfrom flat to about a nickel higher, while several Northeastcitygates joined the Rockies and Southern California border insmall declines.

Formed when one day’s high is lower than the next days’ low,chart gaps are a technical feature that garner plenty of marketattention. And the natural gas futures market has had more than itsshare of gaps during the month of April. There are theyet-to-be-filled daily continuation chart gaps at $2.90-92 and$3.03-045 as well as the $3.08-11 gap that was filled in by the Maycontract just prior to its expiry Wednesday. All told, May’s tenureas prompt month could be easily described as tight, choppytechnical trading. Only once during that period did May have adaily trading range that exceeded a dime (April 4).

Formed when one day’s high is lower than an adjoining day’s low,chart gaps are a technical feature that garner plenty of marketattention. And over the last two weeks, natural gas traders havedone just that; attempting to fill the more than dime void leftbetween the $2.305 low from Dec. 30 and the $2.20 high from Jan. 4.Each day since then, they have steadily chipped away at the gap bymaking higher highs in each of the last seven trading sessions.That set the stage last Friday. Would the futures market crumbleunder the weight of sagging holiday weekend demand, or continuehigher to plug the hole up to $2.305? That question was answeredsuccinctly Friday morning when buyers, armed with fresh weatherforecasts and propelled by stop-loss buying, bid the Februarycontract 7 cents higher to a $2.322 close.

Very mild softness was the dominant feature of the cash marketTuesday with a few points turning in basically flat showings.Others were off by up to a nickel. Prices started off near theirlow points but were able to rebound a few cents later in thetrading cycle, sources in the Gulf Coast and Rockies/Southwestsaid.

International gas producers are sailing into a political stormas they pursue their next drilling target off the East Coast, theCanadian half of Georges Bank between Nova Scotia and New England. Three wholly-owned arms of senior U.S. gas suppliers – TexacoCanada, Chevron Canada and Amoco Canada – are out to persuadeCanadian federal and provincial authorities to let a moratorium onresource exploration on Georges expire.