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Buoyed by another price hike in the nearby crude oil market, the natural gas futures market continued its run higher Wednesday to notch a new two-month high. However, concerns that Thursday’s storage report will be a wet blanket for the market were enough to temper the bulls enthusiasm and the April contract only managed a 3.4-cent advance to close at $5.722. At 57,623, estimated volume was relatively weak, confirming the idea that traders chose to remain on the sidelines during the trading session.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has sent subpoenas to owners of power plants in Connecticut as part of an ongoing investigation into whether power suppliers may have done anything untoward during a cold snap that lasted several days in January. Blumenthal is also preparing to issue similar subpoenas to other generators in the New England region.

Bullied by follow-through buying on the heels of last week’s supportive storage release, the natural gas futures market opened higher Friday and rose quickly to test key resistance near the $6 mark. However, the gains were short-lived as market-watchers were hit with weather forecasts confirming the belief that the second half of the month would be much warmer than the first half.

Continuing to follow Nicor Gas and a subsidiary’s actions very closely, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said late last week that Nicor Solutions is using “deceptive marketing” to pitch a pilot program that charges consumers $107 a year to protect against high natural gas prices — a plan the board contends never would have saved Nicor’s customers any money in the history of the gas market.

Continuing to follow Nicor Gas and a subsidiary’s actions very closely, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said Thursday that Nicor Solutions is using “deceptive marketing” to pitch a pilot program that charges consumers $107 a year to protect against high natural gas prices — a plan the board contends never would have saved Nicor’s customers any money in the history of the gas market.

In what was largely believed to be a follow-through from Friday’s erratic screen rise of nearly 16 cents, cash prices saw strong gains Monday that hit double digits at a majority of points and were especially pronounced in the heated West. Eastern upticks tended to range from about a nickel to a little more than 20 cents, while some western points fit within the East’s pattern and others soared by as much as 40-60 cents or more.

McMoRan Exploration said that it intends to follow through on a two-year-old plan to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) import terminal offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. The $500 million, 1 Bcf/d Main Pass Energy Hub would be developed at a discontinued sulfur mining operation at one of the largest platform configurations in the Gulf at Main Pass Block 299, about 16 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River in 210 feet of water.

McMoRan Exploration said that it intends to follow through on a two-year-old plan to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) import terminal offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. The $500 million, 1 Bcf/d Main Pass Energy Hub would be developed at a discontinued sulfur mining operation at one of the largest platform configurations in the Gulf at Main Pass Block 299, about 16 miles east of the mouth of the Mississippi River in 210 feet of water.

Six Democrats on the Senate Energy Committee sent President Bush a follow-up letter to once again urge the administration to drop its opposition to special incentives for an Alaska gas pipeline along the Alaska Highway route. In light of increasing concerns about natural gas supply, high gas prices and the impact on the economy, highlighted by the recent comments of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, the administration should reconsider its position on the Alaska pipeline, they said.