Feel

If these feel like hot times, that’s because they are, at least according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which Friday said “2010 is almost certain to rank in the top three warmest years since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850.”

Producers in Canada could be forgiven if they feel like they’re in a boxing match with their U.S. counterparts. Marcellus Shale production and the coming Ruby Pipeline offer a one-two punch that will knock Canadian gas out of the Lower 48 ring, according to Bentek Energy LLC.

Producers in Canada could be forgiven if they feel like they’re in a boxing match with their U.S. counterparts. Marcellus Shale production and the coming Ruby Pipeline offer a one-two punch that will knock Canadian gas out of the Lower 48 ring, according to Bentek Energy LLC.

Natural gas at $11/Mcf is “kind of like a Saturday night drunk,” Devon Energy Corp. Chairman Larry Nichols said last week. “It may feel good at the time,” but it isn’t sustainable.

Rising prices grew even more prominent in the market Wednesday as enough regions are starting to feel enough early-autumn chill to prompt noticeable heating load. It isn’t much yet, as overnight lows in the 40s and 50s remain the most common temperature depths, but abetted by a prior-day gain of 1.6 cents by November futures it was sufficient to drive most points higher by generally small amounts.

Natural gas at $11/Mcf is “kind of like a Saturday night drunk,” Devon Energy Corp. Chairman Larry Nichols said Tuesday. “It may feel good at the time,” but it isn’t sustainable.

The two-day feel-good run by the bulls came to a crashing halt Wednesday as the March natural gas futures contract dropped 18 cents to go off the board at $4.056. April futures, which now take over as the front-month contract, subtracted 16.5 cents to close at $4.029.

Valhalla, NY-based Optionable Inc. continued to feel the backlash Monday more than two weeks after the energy options broker’s largest customer, Bank of Montreal (BMO), revealed a $400 million-plus trading loss (see Daily GPI, April 30). On Monday, Optionable, which has seen a 91% drop in share value since BMO’s loss announcement April 27, reported that Kevin Cassidy, vice chairman, CEO and director of the company, resigned Saturday. That news was followed by the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) resigning board representation.

October natural gas futures traded within a fairly tight 17-cent range Tuesday as the expiring prompt month continued to feel out two-year-old support around the $4.500 level. One day ahead of going off of the board, the contract put in a low of $4.380 before closing at $4.526, up 5.1 cents on the day.