After a spirited rally Tuesday that propelled the Augustcontract to its highest level since July 15, the market took abreather Wednesday as traders elected to wait on the sidelinesahead of fresh fundamental news. The prompt month finished down 0.6cents at $2.394 in choppy, range-bound trading.
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The Online Retail Energy Market Is Scheduled for Lift-Off
While deregulation at the retail level inches along at a snail’s pace, the online retail energy marketplace is quietly gaining market acceptance and could be become a real stimulant to competition.
Eastern Markets Level Off While West Keeps Falling
An Arctic cold front spreading through the nation’s midsectionwas enough to arrest a late December slide in cash prices Tuesday,at least in Eastern markets, which tended to be flat to slightlyhigher. But except for essential flatness at Waha and the PermianBasin, most of the West fell by about a dime or more, topped by adrop of almost 30 cents at Stanfield.
3.1 Tcf Storage Level Not a Problem for Bulls
A strong cash market and a shift in attention from the bearishsupply situation to the bullish demand forecasts collaboratedThursday to send futures prices spiraling higher. That enabled theDecember contract to move through a couple of key chart levels enroute to its settlement of $2.553. Estimated volume, which has beennotably less than usual this week, registered a respectable 88,159.
Gas Regulators Get Praise, Advice from IEA
While efforts to deregulate the electric industry at both thestate and federal level drag on, at least one internationalobserver found U.S. gas deregulation worthy of praise. RobertPriddle, executive director of the International Energy Agency(IEA) in Paris, told reporters at the 17th Congress of the WorldEnergy Council that the United States leads the world in gascompetition.
U.S. Ahead in Gas Deregulation, IEA’s Priddle Says
While efforts to deregulate the electric industry at both thestate and federal level drag on, at least one internationalobserver found U.S. gas deregulation worthy of praise. RobertPriddle, executive director of the International Energy Agency(IEA) in Paris, told reporters at the 17th Congress of the WorldEnergy Council that the United States leads the world in gascompetition. Priddle said he is heartened by the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission’s (FERC) decision to review pipeline rateregulation. Priddle gave his talk to highlight findings of theIEA’s report card on U.S. energy policy. The findings stem from a1998 review and are published by the agency in a 152-page book.
Some Points Level Off, But Overall Outlook Still Weak
Most cash points tended to ignore Thursday’s rebound on thefutures screen and instead focused on weak fundamentals. Many GulfCoast and Midcontinent pipes were leveling off from Wednesday’sprecipitous plunges, although several in the Gulf fell a few morecents. The losers included points in South and East Texas despite aferocious heat wave straining the state’s electric utilities.
Study Calls Gas Unbundling a ‘Minimal Success’
Given the “slim to non-existent gross margins” for marketers,retail gas unbundling at the state level has been a “minimalsuccess” at best so far, according to the results of a study ofmore than 100 LDCs released earlier this week.
August Futures Remain Mired In Trading Range
$2.43 continued to be a stubborn resistance level for the AugustNymex contract on Thursday, as yesterday marked the fourthconsecutive day the spot month failed to move above this key shortterm price objective. On the other hand, Thursday was also thefourth day in a row that August failed to move below key technicalsupport at $2.32. The inability for August to move significantly ineither direction helped lead the contract down 1.7 cents to settlethe day at $2.349.
U.S. Efforts to Remove Mexico Gas Tariff Shelved
Given the level of opposition south of the border, theInterstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) said itsplans to forego for the next couple of years its efforts topersuade Mexico to lift its tariff on natural gas.