Followed

Natural gas futures traders experienced a bit of deja vu as the April contract followed Tuesday’s 4.4-cent decline with another 4.4-cent reduction for Wednesday, leaving the prompt-month contract to close at $4.303.

Natural gas futures traders experienced a bit of deja vu as the April contract followed Tuesday’s 4.4-cent decline with another 4.4-cent reduction for Wednesday, leaving the prompt-month contract to close at $4.303.

Traders followed the script of the last few days in pushing the February natural gas futures contract lower on its Wednesday expiration. The contract broke below the recent range’s $5.354 low to $5.223 before going off the board at $5.274, down 21.1 cents from Tuesday’s finish. The March contract, which now assumes front-month status, dropped 20.6 cents to close at $5.224.

Traders followed the script of the last few days in pushing the February natural gas futures contract lower on its Wednesday expiration. The contract broke below the recent range’s $5.354 low to $5.223 before going off the board at $5.274, down 21.1 cents from Tuesday’s finish. The March contract, which now assumes front-month status, dropped 20.6 cents to close at $5.224.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said his decision to push for a tax on natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale followed the results of the state’s recent public lands lease sale, which brought in twice the revenue that state officials had expected.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said his decision to once again push for a tax on natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale followed the results of the state’s public lands lease sale, which last week brought in twice the revenue that state officials had expected.

With traders playing it close to the vest for the second consecutive session, November natural gas futures on Wednesday followed up Tuesday’s 4.5-cent advance with a 3.4-cent decline to $4.841.

Petrohawk Energy Corp. has followed through on a plan announced last year and said Monday it would sell its Permian Basin properties to a privately owned company for $376 million in cash.

Natural gas futures followed big brother crude’s lead lower for a second consecutive session, which had at least one veteran broker questioning the safety of the natural gas $3.155 low for the move recorded back on April 27. August natural gas futures shaved 5.8 cents during Tuesday’s regular session to close at $3.429.