Thursday’s cash market featured mostly small moves up or down from flat. Although cooling trends were approaching in the Northeast, South and parts of the Midwest, really frigid weather is due to remain fairly scarce in North America outside central and western Canada. The previous day’s screen drop of 14.3 cents contributed to cash losses moderately outnumbering the gains.
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Milder Forecasts Cause Most Points to Soften
Paraphrasing a Christmas carol, “It’s beginning to look a lot like last week” when it comes to the spot gas market. Just as the Nov. 28-Dec. 2 trading week featured three days of mostly rising prices followed by two days of majority softness, the current week’s market was generally strong through Wednesday before falling at most locations Thursday.
Cold Forecast Sends Most Points Higher; Northeast Soft
For a change Monday’s trading featured most Northeast locations taking big dives while prices recorded fairly strong increases at a large majority of other points. Most sections of the North American market can expect to endure some severe winter weather this week.
Futures Take Corrective Action, Settle 31.4 Cents Higher
Coming off a Monday that featured a jittery Wall Street and a titanic tumble in energy commodities, April natural gas futures on Tuesday went into correction mode as some traders suggested that a more sideways-trending market coupled with high volatility lies ahead in the near term. The prompt-month contract reached a high of $9.420 before closing out the day at $9.414, up 31.4 cents from Monday.
Rockies Recovery Spikes Lead Overall Firmness
Prices soared by triple-digit amounts in the Rockies Thursday as the regional market continued a recovery from extreme weakness that featured low-end quotes of less than a dime in the previous two days. Most points elsewhere achieved moderate gains, but Thursday was likely to be the last day of this week’s overall market advances.
ExxonMobil CEO Calls for ‘Concrete Steps’ to Reduce Emissions
What a difference a year makes. In early 2006, Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) featured a session at CERAWeek titled, “Is the Time Finally Right for Renewables?” This year, the buzz is not only about rising costs and profit margins, but about the number of sessions devoted to energy efficiency, climate change and biofuels.
Fifty-Third Week Storage Report Causes Historical Confusion
Though somewhat unremarkable in that it featured a 151 Bcf withdrawal that was well within market expectations (see related story), the weekly storage report released Thursday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) drew attention from industry analysts and data crunchers alike because it was a calendar anomaly — it was the 53rd weekly storage report for 2004.
Fifty-Third Week Storage Report Causes Historical Confusion
Though somewhat unremarkable in that it featured a 151 Bcf withdrawal that was within market expectations, the weekly storage report released last Thursday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) drew attention from industry analysts and data crunchers alike because it was a calendar anomaly — it was the 53rd weekly storage report for 2004.
People
Chair Marilyn Showalter of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission will be a featured speaker at the upcoming conference on “Buying and Selling Electric Power in the West” Jan. 20-21 in Seattle, WA. Michael Grainey, director of the Oregon Department of Energy, also will be presenting at this 10 annual conference hosted by Law Seminars International. Topics to be covered include key national and global developments affecting electric markets in the West, anticipated budget and operational impacts of new security requirements, and the Canadian perspective on the key issues in western U.S. power markets. In addition there will be discussions on hydropower licensing, risk management strategies, the financial markets’ view on Northwest energy markets, potential financial impacts of pending energy litigation, a California update and energy strategies for cities and counties. A complete program can be viewed at http://www.lawseminars.com/frame_seminars.htm.
El Paso Case, CA Market Problems Tackled at House Hearing
In a congressional hearing that featured a thorough review of the El Paso market manipulation case and all the issues contributing to the serious natural gas market malfunction last year in California, FERC Chairman Pat Wood told a House Government Reform subcommittee chaired by Doug Ose (R-CA) that he does not see a need for new legislation.