Hitch

The Indian economy was not immune to the economic slowdown caused by the global pandemic in 2020. As in many countries, lockdowns led to a spike in unemployment and quick drops in most measures of economic activity.

The integration of Illinois-based Nicor Inc. to form the largest distribution-only natural gas utility operation in the nation went off without a hitch in the first quarter (see Daily GPI, Dec. 8, 2011) but financial results were pressured by unseasonable winter weather, AGL Resources Inc. CEO John Somerhalder told financial analysts Tuesday.

September natural gas slipped lower Monday in lackluster trading as natural gas failed to hitch its wagon to surging equity and oil prices and managed funds align on the short side of the market. At the close September had fallen 3.6 cents to $4.024 and October had eased 3.2 cents to $4.039. September crude oil jumped $2.50 to $87.88/bbl. and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 214 points to 11,483.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) quarterly oil and natural gas lease sale in Utah went off without a hitch Tuesday, netting $1.07 million in bonus bids to develop acreage in the central and northeastern parts of the state.

Seeming to hitch its wagon to petroleum futures once again, June natural gas followed both crude’s plunge in the morning and its climb in the afternoon. With a hint of irony, June natural gas ended up settling 5.2 cents lower on the day at $6.748, the same price at which May natural gas futures expired a day earlier.

A bearish storage report caused only a small “hitch in the git-along” for the futures market Thursday, as natural gas prices back-tracked for awhile and then shifted their focus to the oil market and surged ahead. While opinions remain mixed on the next price direction, it can be said that there are more bulls now than there were three weeks ago.