Fundamental

The bullish natural gas futures case suffered yet another bearish fundamental body blow on Thursday as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that 110 Bcf was injected into underground storage for the week ended June 1. While July natural gas futures bulls put up a good fight in morning trade, the contract ended up dropping 25.5 cents Thursday to close at $7.825.

With the implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), a “fundamental shift” in the balance of power between FERC and the energy industry occurred, giving the Commission significant civil penalty authority and expanding its jurisdiction over energy companies that had not historically been subject to its reach, according to a review by a top energy law firm.

With the implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), a “fundamental shift” in the balance of power between FERC and the energy industry occurred, giving the Commission significant civil penalty authority and expanding its jurisdiction over energy companies that had not historically been subject to its jurisdiction, according to a review by a top energy law firm.

With the natural gas futures arena awaiting fundamental news to push it in one direction or the other, a just released WSI Corp. temperature forecast could have bulls bellying up to the bar in the near-term. According to the Andover, MA-based weather forecasting and business solution provider, the May-July period should average above normal temperatures for a majority of the U.S., except for the East.

With the natural gas futures arena awaiting fundamental news to push it in one direction or the other, a just released WSI Corp. temperature forecast could have bulls bellying up to the bar in the near-term. According to the Andover, MA-based weather forecasting and business solution provider, the May-July period should average above normal temperatures for a majority of the U.S., except for the East.

Due to fundamental influences remaining weak, eastern prices continued to fall at nearly all points, generally by large amounts. However, thanks to an infusion of cold and snowy weather across the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies along with the removal of OFOs by California’s two biggest distributors (see Transportation Notes), western markets generally saw a mix of large and small rebounds from Friday’s across the board plunges.

About a month after the official start of fall, there is finally enough seasonal weather showing up to give some fundamental justification to price rebounds at nearly all points Monday. Tropical Storm Alpha showed up over the weekend but was given no chance at all of approaching the Gulf of Mexico.

Caught between longer-term bearish fundamental market conditions and shorter-term bullish technical factors, the natural gas futures market chopped sideways to higher in relatively light trading activity Tuesday. And while neither side could claim the day as a victory, the market finished on a positive note, with the June contract ekeing out a 3-cent advance to close at $6.476.

Growing heating load across northern market areas propelled the cash market to double-digit increases across the board Wednesday. Gains ranged from a quarter or so to more than half a dollar and were distributed fairly evenly across geographic areas.