Fundamentals

Fundamentals are in place for U.S. natural gas prices to recover to “at least” $4.00/MMBtu in 2013, with prices through December averaging $3.50, Canaccord Genuity said Monday.

Robust demand from the power generation sector has helped to rebalance the natural gas market and fundamentals are in place for prices to increase to “at least $4[/Mcf] this winter,” according to Canaccord Genuity analyst John Gerdes.

Robust demand from the power generation sector has helped to rebalance the natural gas market and fundamentals are in place for prices to increase to “at least $4[/Mcf] this winter,” according to Canaccord Genuity analyst John Gerdes.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., the second largest natural gas producer in the United States, has shut in 1 Bcf/d gross through October, CEO Aubrey McClendon told investors on Wednesday.

Arrival of some heating load fails to offset recognition of generally weak weather fundamentals.

Cash gas prices joined an overall rally in the stock and commodities markets Tuesday with flat to higher showings at all locations. Fundamentals didn’t seem to justify the modest strength as forecasts were seasonal for early August or slightly cooler in many areas, but there was no denying that buyers dominated Tuesday trading.

Driven by sustained intensity in the U.S. onshore and a slow recovery in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the domestic rig count should average 1,850 in 2011, which would be 20% higher than in 2010, Baker Hughes Inc. said Monday.

Setting aside the “near-term noise” in terms of North American natural gas fundamentals, prices should average below $4.00/Mcf this year, with summer contracts averaging around $3.25, Raymond James & Associates Inc. said Monday.

The “fundamentals” for oil and gas remain unchanged, but new opportunities have arisen because of “technology or changed circumstances,” Schlumberger Ltd. CEO Andrew Gould said Monday.