Gain

Fueled by Wednesday’s 30.6-cent gain, natural gas futures surged higher at the open yesterday as traders salivated over the probability of another sub-100 Bcf storage figure next Wednesday. However, the combination of mild weather forecasts for the weekend and nervous new length proved to be too much, leaving bulls almost defenseless as prices cascaded lower in the afternoon. The August contract closed at $3.128, down 14.8 cents on its penultimate trading day.

Buoyed by a price-constructive intermediate-range weather forecast and stronger cash market prices, natural gas futures shuffled higher for the second-straight session Monday amid light short covering and fresh long accumulation. Although unable to sustain a move back above the $3.00 mark, bulls were impressed by the market’s ability to rebound from a late morning dip to the low $2.90s. Bears, meanwhile appear more convinced than ever that the market will continue lower. At the closing bell, the August contract was 2.3 cents stronger at $2.978.

Buoyed by follow-through buying on the heels of Wednesday’s late price surge and in reaction to weather forecasts (both for hot temps next week as well as the formation of Tropical Depression 2), natural gas futures shuffled higher for the third session in a row Thursday as short-covering promoted prices to new week-and-a-half highs. At the closing bell, the August contract was knocking on the door of some important technical levels, up 8.6 cents at $3.428.

Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) appear to be making another push into the spotlight as Westport Innovations Inc. and BC Gas Inc. reported last Thursday that their BCG eFuels Inc. joint venture has merged with Seal Beach, CA-based Pickens Fuel Corp. (PFC) to form the largest natural gas fuels provider for NGVs in North America.

Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) appear to be making another push into the spotlight as Westport Innovations Inc. and BC Gas Inc. reported on Thursday that their BCG eFuels Inc. joint venture has merged with Seal Beach, CA-based Pickens Fuel Corp. (PFC) to form the largest natural gas fuels provider for NGVs in North America.

Bolstered by a futures gain of slightly more than a quarter but not much else other than expectations of more robust fundamentals, cash prices rebounded across the board Monday. Every point was up around 20 cents or more, with western increases tending to be much larger and hitting triple digits in California. Rockies numbers were on the high side of $2 again after having dipped below that level for the weekend.

Mergers and acquisitions in the energy industry are continuing at a feverish pace as two more production companies announced that they have decided to tie the knot. Samson Canada, a privately held oil and natural gas company with operations in the United States, Canada, Russia and Venezuela, announced that it will make an offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Courage Energy Inc. at a price of C$5.20/share in cash.

Mergers and acquisitions in the energy industry are continuing at the feverish pace set last year as two more production companies announced that they have decided to tie the knot. Samson Canada, a privately held oil and natural gas company with operations in the United States, Canada, Russia and Venezuela, announced on Monday that it will make an offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Courage Energy Inc. at a price of C$5.20/share in cash.

To gain flexibility for its growing non-regulated business, NewJersey-based NUI Corp. has announced the formation of an exemptholding company structure.