Lent

The fact that no less than four storm systems were swirling in the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday lent more than enough support to the expiring October natural gas futures contract. Able to temporarily shake off the fact that storage levels are more than healthy, traders pushed the contract within a 21-cent range before it quietly went off the board at $6.423, up 6.3 cents from Tuesday.

For the most part yesterday cash prices carved out increases asTropical Storm Harvey lent some support to the East and maintenanceissues helped strengthen prices along the West Coast and Rockies.Yet mild weather nationwide, the expected American Gas Associationstorage report of higher-than-normal injections and a weak futuresscreen were traders’ main topics of conversation yesterday. And thegeneral consensus is that cash price increases may be hard to comeby for the next few days.

Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) last week lent his support to apipeline-sponsored proposal that would require pipelines seeking toseize private property for projects to notify affected landownersby certified mail at the outset of FERC proceedings, giving them anopportunity to participate more fully in the process.

A continuation of intense heat in the Eastern U.S. lentfundamental support to gas markets in the region Friday, keepingcash prices flat to slightly higher or lower for the weekend.Again, though, it was a case of “not so” in the San Juan Basin,Rockies and California. Although east-of-California markets sawhigh temperatures approaching or surpassing 100 degrees, a dearthof demand from the Golden State and the unrealized threat of an OFOon El Paso caused gas to back up into the San Juan-Blanco pool,resulting in a steep dive of nearly 30 cents. One source, whopicked up an early Blanco package at $1.78, about a dime down fromThursday, paid only $1.59 near the end of trading.