Hinted

February natural gas settled at a new 10-year low Wednesday as traders hinted that Thursday’s release of Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory figures would likely prompt further declines even if the data was bullish relative to expectations.

After securing a natural gas midstream partnership in the Horn River Basin with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Quicksilver Resources Inc. now is pursuing a partnership to develop its upstream leasehold, executives said Thursday.

October natural gas futures jumped Tuesday on largely technical factors as traders hinted that any confirmation of a market bottom would require weathering the vagaries of Thursday’s inventory report. October rose 7.9 cents to $3.909 and November added 6.9 cents to $4.024. October crude oil added $1.63 to $88.90/bbl.

April natural gas futures managed an end-of-week rise Friday although short-term traders cited no change in market fundamentals and hinted that they were simply playing well defined trading ranges. Longer-term bulls point to a storage deficit, and bears contend that a decline in horizontal drilling will be necessary for the market to post a bottom.

While the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday hinted strongly that the regulatory failures of Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) were partly at fault for the spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Interior Secretary Ken Salazar defended the MMS and called on Congress to move forward with “organic legislation” to split the agency in two.

As hinted by its linepack projections Tuesday (see Daily GPI, Sept. 2), PG&E declared a systemwide Stage 2 low-inventory OFO on its California Gas Transmission System for Thursday, setting penalties of $1/Dth for noncompliance with a 5% tolerance on negative daily imbalances.

Two drilling companies reported disappointing financial results last Thursday but hinted that things could be looking up in the gas/oil patch as the rig count seems to have hit its nadir.

Two drilling companies reported disappointing financial results Thursday but hinted that things could be looking up in the gas/oil patch as the rig count seems to have hit its nadir.

As Wednesday’s swing to mixed pricing that was mostly softer had hinted, the impending return of warmer weather in the East and the depressant effect of four straight losing sessions by December futures combined to bring cash prices down hard at nearly all locations Thursday. Only flat El Paso-San Juan numbers averted a total sweep of softer quotes.