Future

Following on the heels of gains achieved in the Tuesday eveningAccess trading session and amid buying frenzies both before andafter the release of fresh storage data, natural gas futures spikedsharply yesterday as traders reacquired long positions liquidatedover the past two weeks.

Future shippers on the new Chicago-to-Dawn Vector Pipeline hadtheir fears confirmed last Tuesday when pipeline officialsannounced that the start-up date for the project, which wasscheduled for Nov. 1 to coincide with the start-up of thelong-awaited Alliance Pipeline, would be delayed a month until Dec.1.

Future shippers on the new Chicago-to-Dawn Vector Pipeline hadtheir fears confirmed Tuesday when pipeline officials announcedthat the start-up date for the project, which was scheduled forNov. 1 to coincide with the start-up of the long-awaited AlliancePipeline, would be delayed until Dec. 1.

With proposed solutions already given to both state policymakers and utilities alike, the independent electric generators met Monday in an attempt to hammer out common strategies for repairing California’s tattered electricity restructuring efforts, including a wholesale spot power market that is continuing to produce historically high prices.

Like a politician in an election year, the natural gas futuremarket had something for everyone yesterday as prices spiraledhigher early in the session on storm hype and short covering onlyto crumble at the end on slightly bearish storage numbers.

The Gulf of Mexico’s shallow basin is a “great place” forsmaller independents now and into the future, according to threewho should know. Executives with three of the best performingindependents say their companies will continue to focus nearly allof their attention on finding natural gas in the shallow offshoreareas of Texas and Louisiana.

The Gulf of Mexico’s shallow basin is a “great place” forsmaller independents now and into the future, according to threewho should know. Executives with three of the best performingindependents say their companies will continue to focus nearly allof their attention on finding natural gas in the shallow offshoreareas of Texas and Louisiana.

Fueled by gains in nearby crude oil pit, it was up, up and awayonce again for natural gas futures as traders added to their betsthat the market will experience supply woes this winter. As itturns out, that was more than enough buying to propel natural gasfutures to double gains and the second highest prompt monthsettlement price in the commodity’s 10-year history.

Calling the increase in natural gas demand “phenomenal” both nowand for the foreseeable future, Simmons & Co. InternationalVice President David Pursell predicted it is “unlikely” thatproducers will see gas prices return anywhere near to $2 for atleast three to five years. He said $2 prices were “in the rear viewmirror” for gas producers.