Hardest

A juggernaut of arctic air starting to exit the Northeast will leave temperatures close to normal Tuesday in the region, which was hit hardest pricewise by the latest winter storm. Temperatures were expected to stay largely static or grow slightly warmer in other market areas.

With some of the regions hardest hit by severe wintry weather last week getting a breathing spell during the weekend before the next onslaught is predicted to start early this week — and a long holiday weekend contributing its extra interruption of industrial load — prices fell at nearly all points Friday. The previous day’s 10.4-cent increase by March futures apparently had little impact on the cash market.

With some of the regions hardest hit by severe wintry weather last week getting a breathing spell during the weekend before the next onslaught is predicted to start early this week — and a long holiday weekend contributing its extra interruption of industrial load — prices fell at nearly all points Friday. The previous day’s 10.4-cent increase by March futures apparently had little impact on the cash market.

Weaver’s Cove LNG, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project that seemed hardest to kill, may have finally received a death blow. Massachusetts state Sen. Joan Menard (D-Fall River) and state Rep. Robert Correia (D-Fall River) said last Monday that legislation they sponsored to restrict LNG tankers in Massachusetts waters passed in both the House and Senate and was enacted on Monday.

Weaver’s Cove LNG, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project that seemed hardest to kill, may have finally received a death blow. Massachusetts state Sen. Joan Menard (D-Fall River) and state Rep. Robert Correia (D-Fall River) said Monday that legislation they created to restrict LNG tankers passed in both the House and Senate late Thursday night and was enacted on Monday.

Moderate softening continued to reign in the cash market Wednesday as slow warming trends fail to prompt enough power generation load to turn prices around. A few Northeast citygates were essentially flat with losses of only a penny, while most other points recorded generally small drops ranging from 2-3 cents to a little more than a dime.

As the December bills for natural gas use hit the home front,city and state officials in Illinois, one of the hardest hit lastmonth, weatherwise, reacted with measures to increase low incomeassistance and investigate the cause of the high prices.

Cash prices for the weekend were down almost across the boardFriday, succumbing to mild weather and lower weekend demand.However, noting the late rebound in the Henry Hub futures contract,a marketer thinks that set the stage for a modest rally in cashnumbers today. He looks for Midcontinent pipes to move back up intothe low $2.10s.