Generally

Even with heating load staying generally on the light side and weaker prior-day futures, cash prices managed to achieve modest increases at nearly all points Tuesday. It was among other market vagaries in which price moves seemed to be at odds with demand realities.

Shippers on El Paso Natural Gas generally have expressed support for the pipeline’s request to waive some of the penalties that were incurred during the unprecedented cold weather in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in February, which led to supply disruptions and rolling blackouts and ultimately put a strain on the energy infrastructure in the region.

Shippers on El Paso Natural Gas generally have expressed support for the pipeline’s request to waive some of the penalties that were incurred during the unprecedented cold weather in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in February, which led to supply disruptions and rolling blackouts and ultimately put a strain on the energy infrastructure in the region.

Prices continued to drop by generally small amounts at nearly all points Thursday despite cooling load remaining heavy in some areas. A few cooling trends and the previous day’s downturn of 6.5 cents by prompt-month futures were primary components of the cash market softness.

The market rallied by generally small amounts Monday from the overall weakness it was experiencing going into the weekend. Although Tropical Storm (TS) Don had long since dissipated over South Texas and forecasts going out to mid-August are more moderate than before, heat is building to high — sometimes severe — levels in much of the U.S., especially in the central region and parts of the desert Southwest.

It was not surprising that prices continued to drop at nearly all points Friday. Generally moderate weather almost everywhere, a 10.4-cent dip by June futures a day earlier and the usual weekend loss of industrial load were all bearish influences on Friday’s cash market.

At a time when the concept of natural gas as a transportation fuel is getting newfound backing in the nation’s capital and in various states, there was generally positive reaction to the recent move by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make it easier to certify compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion systems.

As energy storage generally becomes more important economically, a natural gas storage field proposed for an existing suburban residential area in Sacramento, CA, has its backers lamenting the political dust being stirred up (see Daily GPI, March 16). Nevertheless, the head of Sacramento Natural Gas Storage told NGI Wednesday he thinks the project ultimately will prevail.

Prices increased by generally small amounts at nearly all locations Tuesday outside the Northeast. As a Midcontinent producer had suggested a day earlier, storage holders under no requirements of an account-emptying deadline likely were continuing to replace gas that had gotten withdrawn during the previous two weeks. And albeit minuscule, cash had a tad of support from Monday’s futures rally of 1.5 cents.