Front

December natural gas futures in their second regular session as the front-month contract on Friday continued to navigate rudderless — trading above and below Thursday’s settle before closing almost unchanged for a second straight session.

December natural gas futures’ first test as the front-month contract arrived Thursday morning as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that 25 Bcf was injected into underground storage for the week ending Oct. 23, an addition that was below most industry expectations.

Resistance at $5 held up once again on Tuesday as November natural gas futures reached a high of $4.959 before retreating. The front-month contract reached a low of $4.513 before closing the day’s regular session at $4.588, down 29.2 cents from Monday’s finish.

October futures values plunged on Wednesday as the newly minted front-month contract continued to approach the lows for the down move carved out by the preceding month. The October contract ended up closing Wednesday’s regular session at $2.715, down 10.6 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Still trying to sort out the market’s direction following August futures’ 38.5-cent explosion higher last Thursday, the front-month contract on Monday scouted lower values in the morning before rebounding into the afternoon. At the end of Monday’s regular session, the result was similar to Friday’s noncommittal tenth-of-a-cent gain as August natural gas added two pennies to close at $3.689.

A trio of energy bills signed into law Monday by Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry will help ensure that the state stays at the front of the nation’s alternative energy debate, according to Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge (R-Tulsa), who introduced the bills.

The opportunity is now for natural gas buyers because front-month futures prices are likely headed to $8 before the end of the year, according to Paul Corby, senior vice president of Planalytics. Corby will be offering the market analysis behind his forecast at GasMart 2009, the annual meeting of major natural gas buyers and sellers coming up in Chicago May 19-21.

The opportunity is now for natural gas buyers because front-month futures prices are likely headed to $8 before the end of the year, according to Paul Corby, senior vice president of Planalytics. Corby will be offering the market analysis behind his forecast at GasMart 2009, the annual meeting of major natural gas buyers and sellers coming up in Chicago May 19-21.

Even as the front-month futures contract recorded a third consecutive day of gains on Wednesday, market watchers were under no illusion that the trend would gain any sort of real momentum to pull prices up from their six-and-a-half-year low. The May contract closed Wednesday’s regular session at $3.693, up four-tenths of a penny.