Fluctuations

Colder-than-normal temperatures will dominate much of the northern United States and warmer-than-normal temperatures will be seen elsewhere through April, WSI Corp. forecasters said last Tuesday.

As Canadian imports decline and liquid natural gas (LNG) becomes a key element in U.S. supply, demand fluctuations in other parts of the world will have more of an effect on prices in the United States than ever before. Storage limitations in Korea, a Japanese nuclear reactor being knocked off line by an earthquake or other overseas events can have major impacts on prices in the United States, a ConocoPhillips executive said.

As Canadian imports decline and LNG becomes a key element in U.S. domestic supply, demand fluctuations in other parts of the world will have more of an effect on prices in the U.S. than ever before. Storage limitations in Korea, a Japanese nuclear reactor being knocked off line by an earthquake or other overseas events can have major impacts on prices in the U.S., a ConocoPhillips executive said.

The short-term remedy for price fluctuations in the Californiabulk electric market this summer being sought by San Diego Gas andElectric (SDG&E) — a $250/MWh cap for all wholesale sales inthe state — will have”little more than a placebo” effect, saidthe New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) in a protest broughtearlier this week.

The natural gas futures market had one of its more volatileweeks last week as daily price fluctuations averaged more than 20cents and price ranges averaged a substantial 28 cents. As ofFriday afternoon, the July contract stood at a lofty perch of$4.160/MMBtu, 11.7 cents higher than the previous Friday and 94.3cents above where the near-month contract stood one month earlier.