Flying

Once a high-flying global merchant power plant developer/operator tied to one of the top U.S. energy holding companies, Edison Mission Energy (EME) crash landed Monday with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Cash natural gas prices overall retreated on average about 3 cents, but if the high-flying Northeast delivery points are subtracted from the calculations, the decline comes out closer to a nickel. California and the Midwest were noted soft spots. At the close of futures trading November had fallen 4.9 cents to $3.437 and December was down 0.7 cent to $3.767. November crude oil added 24 cents to $92.09/bbl.

Beginning Wednesday (Aug. 3) there will be a “HAWK” flying over the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, collecting infrared images intended to reveal the release of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from natural gas production and other industrial facilities.

Nearly five years after high-flying hedge fund Amaranth Advisors collapsed with a $6 billion loss, FERC Thursday determined that leading Amaranth trader Brian Hunter manipulated the gas futures market and imposed a civil penalty on him of $30 million.

Nearly five years after high-flying hedge fund Amaranth Advisors collapsed with a $6 billion loss, FERC Thursday determined that leading Amaranth trader Brian Hunter manipulated the gas futures market and imposed a civil penalty on him of $30 million (see Daily GPI, Sept. 26, 2006).

Building on the downward momentum created Thursday with a stout natural gas storage injection and flying in the face of surging crude prices, June natural gas futures on Friday threatened to break below $11 as the contract plunged lower. The prompt-month contract recorded a low of $11.080 before inching higher to close at $11.094, down 30.5 cents from Thursday and 44.3 cents lower than the previous week’s finish.

Flying in the face of fundamental and technical indicators, November natural gas futures ventured higher Tuesday to close at $7.123, up 31.7 cents on the day. December futures, which will soon take over the front month title, climbed 25 cents to settle at $8.315.

Natural gas utilities on the East and West Coasts are warning their customers that the high-flying wholesale gas prices are filtering down to the retail level and that they should expect hefty increases in the monthly bills during the third quarter.

The Bush administration has turned a deaf ear to Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s (D-NM) recommendations on how the president can use his existing authority to cut high-flying natural gas prices and bolster supply.