Getting

With milder weather arriving a bit earlier than expected in the South and lows in the lower Northeast not getting much below freezing Friday, cash traders largely ignored the previous day’s advance of 7.6 cents by March futures in sending all but a few locations to generally moderate losses Thursday.

With milder weather arriving a bit earlier than expected in the South and lows in the lower Northeast not getting much below freezing Friday, cash traders largely ignored the previous day’s advance of 7.6 cents by March futures in sending all but a few locations to generally moderate losses Thursday.

With temperatures beginning to see fall-like conditions again in the South and Midcontinent, and only occasionally lows getting much below freezing outside Canada and U.S. areas near the northern border, prices fell at nearly all points Tuesday. The previous day’s drop of 11.3 cents by January futures also played a role in depressing the cash market.

Modest warming trends, several of which would be under way as early as Wednesday, proved to be no deterrent to a suddenly gangbusters cash market. Getting an extra boost from the previous day’s screen uptick of 22.2 cents, all points were involved in large increases Tuesday.

Despite moderate warming getting under way across much of eastern North America and in the southern, northern and coastal sections of the West, cash prices, with the support of a prior-day screen gain of 4.4 cents, still managed to find enough weather-based load — particularly in the Rockies — to record increases at a large majority of points Wednesday.

Based primarily on the previous day’s 25.1-cent run-up by October futures, but also getting a slight boost from a pinch of extra cooling load returning to the desert Southwest and parts of the South along with forecasts of Friday lows in the 30s in upstate New York and some New England locations, the cash market was flat to higher across the board Thursday.

Less than a day after getting clearance from FERC, Sempra’s Cameron LNG liquefied natural gas import terminal near Lake Charles, LA, which had been under construction for four years, began commercial operation on Thursday.

Less than a day after getting clearance from FERC, Sempra LNG Thursday announced that its Cameron LNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal near Lake Charles, LA, which had been under construction for four years, began commercial operation.

Getting some much-needed start-up cargoes for its new Gulf of Mexico liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, San Diego-based Sempra Energy announced last Monday it has signed a “flexible” short-term agreement for up to 50 LNG shipments from Qatar through the end of next year. Cargoes equivalent to about 4.8 Bcf each will be shipped to Sempra LNG’s Cameron facility near Lake Charles, LA, starting this August.