Footing

ExxonMobil Corp., the No. 1 natural gas producer in the United States, continues to reign supreme as the world’s top energy enterprise, and it has regained its footing as the largest domestic publicly traded entity.

U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar’s (R-IN) legislation to put America’s NATO allies on the same footing as free trade agreement (FTA) nations for the purpose of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports — the LNG for NATO Act — raises interesting talking points, even if its hopes are slim for this Congress, or even the next, analysts said.

While reliability and price continue to be driving factors, environmental concerns are moving into equal footing in the gas buying process, according to a panel of industry veterans at GasMart 2010 in Chicago last Tuesday. The five panelists addressed different aspects of “Integrating Green Goals into Gas Procurement Basics.”

While reliability and price continue to be driving factors, environmental concerns are moving into equal footing in the gas buying process, according to a panel of industry veterans at GasMart 2010 in Chicago on Tuesday. The five panelists addressed different aspects of “Integrating Green Goals into Gas Procurement Basics.”

Near-month natural gas futures rallied all the way up to $7.180 Wednesday morning, but then lost footing and tumbled to a low of $6.750 by 1:30 p.m. EDT before ending the day down 13.3 cents at $6.875. Despite strong cash prices due to power generation load, the likelihood that Tropical Storm Debby won’t pose a threat to the U.S. appeared to take the wind out of the futures market’s sails during the regular trading session.

A little unsure of its footing following Monday’s 30-cent-plus rise, June natural gas futures explored higher and lower levels on Tuesday before settling nearly unchanged at $6.258, down 1.8 cents on the day.

The cash market found enough cold weather remaining in the Midwest and Northeast and parts of the West to regain its footing and register generally small gains at a majority of points Tuesday. The return of industrial load after a holiday weekend hiatus also helped fuel the mini-rally.

After finishing last week on very negative and tenuous footing, natural gas futures extended lower Monday as funds and local traders exerted their influence on a market mostly devoid of commercial players. However, after plumbing a new, four-week low at $3.67 yesterday morning, the November contract struggled back to near unchanged in the afternoon. It settled at $3.74, up 0.1 cents on the day.

The September gas futures contract found its footing on Tuesday after Monday’s 18-cent stumble, but struggled to gain much ground in a relatively quiet trading session. The near-month contract ended the day up 3.8 cents to $2.716 with a high of $2.745 and a low of $2.690. October rose 3.5 cents, and the winter strip inched up to $3.436.