January

Getting a head start on resuming the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in January, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) sent a shot across the bow of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with a letter to Chairman Joseph P. Kelliher saying the committee would be reviewing FERC’s progress in carrying out directives in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct).

Getting a head start on resuming the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in January, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) sent a shot across the bow of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with a letter to Chairman Joseph P. Kelliher saying the committee would be reviewing FERC’s progress in carrying out directives in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct).

The outlook for continued warm temperatures continued to weigh down natural gas futures on Monday as the January contract plummeted lower, recording a low of $7.040 before settling at $7.075, down 33.4 cents on the day.

January natural gas futures explored lower price levels Monday as the cold snap of weather from the previous week dissipated as forecast, leading traders to focus on the prospect of burdensome supplies at the end of the heating season. After putting in a low of $7.220, the prompt month rebounded to close at $7.427, down 13.4 cents from Friday’s close.

Predicated on the El Nino weather pattern, the populous Northeast and Midwest could see a mild start to the winter, but turn “significantly colder” in January and February — with no sustained extremes, according to a preliminary winter forecast by AccuWeather. The forecast calls for a milder winter for the West Coast.

Predicated on the El Nino weather pattern, the populous Northeast and Midwest could see a mild start to the winter, but turn “significantly colder” in January and February — with no sustained extremes, according to a preliminary winter forecast by AccuWeather. The forecast calls for a milder winter for the West Coast.

Two more ammonia production companies announced last week they would close down for the month of January and possibly longer due to the high price of natural gas. This follows on the earlier closing by Terra Industries of two of its fertilizer plants.

With heating load starting to dwindle and with a prior-day plunge of nearly 70 cents in January futures, cash prices continued Thursday the steep slide that had started on Wednesday. All drops were pretty sizeable in ranging from a little less than 40 cents to around $1.30. Northeast citygates again took most of the dollar-plus hits.

Magnum Hunter Resources Inc., which announced in January that it would merge with Cimarex Energy Co., reported Tuesday that its U.S.-based oil and natural gas production jumped 21% in the fourth quarter and 10% overall in 2004. Production volumes totaled 22.6 Bcfe, or 246.0 MMcfe/d in 4Q2004, with natural gas accounting for 71% of total equivalent production.