Keeping

Tuesday’s April futures rebound of 31.4 cents was only partially successful in resurrecting the cash market Wednesday due to the imminent start of spring keeping a lid on heating load. A moderate majority of points recorded gains, but most of those were around a dime or less, and quite a lot of flat to a little more than 35 cents lower numbers were in the cash market mix.

Keeping the theme intact of moving mostly as a whole on a daily basis, a vast majority of cash points finished out the week with gains on Friday, recording hikes that ranged mostly from a few pennies to a quarter. A few El Paso points out West were some of the only losers on the day, shedding a couple of pennies apiece. It was an up and down week. Friday’s gains built on increases Thursday. Monday and Wednesday showed overall declines offset by widespread increases Tuesday.

Talk about keeping an eye on the weather: Shell Oil Co. is teaming up with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to gather real-time information about storms that blow through the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Talk about keeping an eye on the weather: Shell Oil Co. is teaming up with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to gather real-time information about storms that blow through the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

After keeping natural gas options traders on pins and needles by teetering on either side of $8 during the session, February futures on Monday ultimately pushed to the upside, reaching a high of $8.100 before settling at $8.095, up 11.2 cents from Friday’s close.

After keeping its head above key psychological $8 support for most of Friday’s regular trading session, the February natural gas futures contract stumbled within the last half hour of trade to record a low of $7.990 before settling at $7.993, down 8.8 cents on the day and 21.7 cents lower than the previous week’s close.

U.S. natural gas consumption significantly outpaced domestic production in 2007, keeping Henry Hub spot prices on average north of $7 for the year, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last Tuesday in its Short-Term Energy Outlook for January.

U.S. natural gas consumption significantly outpaced domestic production in 2007, keeping Henry Hub spot prices on average north of $7 for the year, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Tuesday in its Short-Term Energy Outlook for January.

Still languishing in a legally imposed “silent” period that runs until Dec. 10, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) nevertheless is keeping a busy pace preparing to make a deluge of key regulatory filings by the end of the year on its proposed $7.4 billion merger with a consortium of Australian and Canadian private equity interests bidding to take the Bellevue, WA-based utility private.