Fronts

Canadian exports took falls on all fronts in the international natural gas trade’s last contract year, according to records of the National Energy Board (NEB). Deliveries to the United States slipped by 10.7% in the 12 months ending Oct. 31. Prices dropped 49%. Revenues plunged by 54.5%.

Canadian exports took falls on all fronts in the international natural gas trade’s last contract year, according to records of the National Energy Board (NEB). Deliveries to the United States slipped by 10.7% in the 12 months ending Oct. 31. Prices dropped 49%. Revenues plunged by 54.5%.

Only the two Arizona/Nevada points in NGI’s price index table avoided an overall downturn Tuesday as cold fronts were expected to keep summer heat subdued in key northern market areas. Monday’s decline of 2.6 cents by September futures added a further minor bearish note to Tuesday’s cash trading.

Widespread showers and thunderstorms that would continue through the weekend in many areas, along with several cold fronts, kept cooling demand for gas light Friday. That and the usual decline of industrial load during a weekend led to lower prices at most points.

Reduced cooling load due to cold fronts in both the Northeast and Midwest Thursday made Tuesday’s overall rally a short-lived one. Prices fell at most points Wednesday, generally by moderate amounts in the East but by larger amounts in the West.

Cold fronts were either already squelching or about to squelch much of the cooling load that had developed in the East, while the West was a mix of summer-like conditions to the south and unusual chill to the north. Cash prices responded by falling at nearly every point Friday, with only a few scattered instances of flat quotes preventing an across the board sweep of softness.

The cash market advanced on all fronts Thursday, driven by gradually rising heat levels in several areas (not the Northeast, where a cold front was due to keep the region cool) and by support from a futures increase of 8.3 cents the day before.

With severe cold already well established in much of the interior West and Western Canada, and cold fronts having brought winter-like chills back into the Midwest and poised to do the same Thursday for the Northeast and South, the cash market rang up double-digit gains across the board Wednesday. An 11.8-cent futures advance the day before gave added support.

Hot weather forecasts were responsible for keeping prices on the rise at nearly all points Monday in the Midcontinent and West. But heavy rains and/or cold fronts trimmed back some of the cooling load that had started building late last week in the East’s northern market areas and already pervaded the South. The result was substantive price drops at virtually all non-Midcontinent points in the East.