Fundamental

U.S. natural gas and oil activity has increased in the past 20 years, but the Department of Interior (DOI) has — at times — been unable to meet its oversight obligations and is “in need of fundamental reform,” the director of Natural Resources and Environment for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told Congress.

U.S. natural gas and oil activity has increased in the past 20 years, but the Department of Interior (DOI) has — at times — been unable to meet its oversight obligations and is “in need of fundamental reform,” the director of Natural Resources and Environment for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told Congress recently.

October natural gas futures exploded higher once again on Wednesday, and with the bearish fundamental picture remaining unchanged, market participants were attempting to identify a catalyst. While some were convinced that the recent activities of the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) played a role, others saw the extended rally as nothing more than a wave of fund short-covering.

Fundamental differences between global crude markets and the domestic natural gas market are unlikely to return to the historic 7:1 ratio price-wise until U.S. shale gas reserves are depleted, gas demand infrastructure is enhanced or more domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity is added, energy analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said Monday.

With bulls unable to latch on to any real supportive fundamentals other than some pockets of hot temperatures in Texas, the South and the West, August natural gas futures continued plumbing the downside on Tuesday. The front-month contract put in a low of $3.798 in morning trade before closing the regular session at $3.835, down 10.9 cents from Monday’s finish.

With traders eyeing the continued deterioration of the natural gas technical and fundamental environment, May futures on Friday plumbed new lows for the move, further exposing the possibility of a breach of the $3 price level. The prompt-month contract ended Friday’s regular session at $3.297, down 11.2 cents from Thursday’s finish and a whopping 43.2 cents lower than the previous week’s close.

The domestic natural gas market should reach a “fundamental inflection point” in June and be “increasingly underbalanced” in the last half of the year, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (STRH) analysts said Thursday.

The domestic natural gas market should reach a “fundamental inflection point” in June and be “increasingly underbalanced” in the last half of the year, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (STRH) analysts said Thursday.

With domestic supplies growing, investors are starting to wonder how low natural gas prices may go, and the next fundamental support could occur when U.S. coal plants begin to scale back output and replace electricity with gas-fired generation, said Raymond James & Associates Inc. energy analysts.