Fresh

After seesawing on Friday morning from a low of $4.287 just prior to the regular session’s open to a high of $4.454 just prior to the 10:30 a.m. EST release of fresh storage data, December natural gas futures knee-jerked lower after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed that 25 Bcf had been injected into underground storage for the week ending Nov. 6. However, the move was short-lived.

Natural gas futures continued to press higher Wednesday in what one broker believes can now be called the beginning of a fresh bull move. The October contract on Wednesday closed at $3.860, up 25.1 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

The natural gas futures roller-coaster ride, complete with ups and downs, continued into a new week as the October contract — fresh off of a 32-cent jump Friday — dropped 20.2 cents Monday to close at $3.576.

Getting a fresh burst of “energy” from the previous day’s 44-cent futures spike, cash prices rose across the board Thursday. In most cases the gains were larger than on Wednesday, despite weather load remaining light for the most part outside some 100-degree forecasts in the desert Southwest.

After pausing for fresh natural gas inventory news, traders returned pressure temporarily to the upside in natural gas futures Thursday following word that a smaller-than-expected 66 Bcf was injected into underground storage for the week ending Sept. 11. However, the rally gave out after reaching a five-week high of $3.900 as the October contract collapsed to close out the regular session at $3.458, down 30.2 cents from Wednesday’s finish.

Breathing fresh life into the possibility of new coal-fired power plant development, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu late last week pledged that $2.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to expand and accelerate commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

With no signs of fresh bullish or bearish information, short-covering ahead of the weekend won the day Friday as May natural gas futures climbed for much of the regular session to close at $3.729, up 13 cents from Thursday and 11.9 cents higher than the previous week’s finish.

If confirmed, President Obama’s nominee for chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said he wants to take a “fresh look” at the role of speculation in commodity futures markets.

If confirmed, President Obama’s nominee for chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said he wants to take a “fresh look” at the role of speculation in commodity futures markets.