Looked

In an article Tuesday, the Post looked to the future with a report, “European industry flocks to U.S. to take advantage of cheaper gas,” while the Times complained Monday that the “Jobs Boom Built on Cheap Energy Has Yet to Appear.”

Cash market quotes for weekend and Monday gas swan-dived 17 cents Friday as traders looked forward to Thanksgiving week and forecasts of benign weather conditions in eastern markets.

January natural gas inched lower Thursday as traders took the opportunity to sell into a seemingly bullish government inventory report and looked ahead to forecasts calling for above-normal temperatures. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a withdrawal from inventories of 102 Bcf for the week ended Dec. 9, a greater draw than what the market was looking for. At the close, however, January had eased 0.9 cent to $3.127 and February had shed 1.0 cent to $3.177. January crude oil fell $1.08 to $93.87/bbl.

January natural gas managed a tempered gain Tuesday on stout volume, but traders were not dissuaded that the current downtrend was over and looked for a test in the low $3s. At the close January had risen 2.5 cents to $3.279 and February had gained 2.7 cents to $3.321. January crude gained a hefty $2.37 to $100.14/bbl.

At first glance Thursday’s market looked similar to the one a day earlier: mostly small gains outweighing minor losses. However, there were fewer and smaller double-digit increases Thursday, while at the same time there were more and larger declines. The trend hinted at the possibility of cash numbers ending the week the same way they started, with softness dominant.

November natural gas rose Monday as traders saw little in the way of fundamental changes and looked for the market to trade lower by midweek. After what was deemed a round of short-covering November had gained 6 cents to $3.541 and December was up by 1.6 cents to $3.836. November crude oil vaulted $2.43 to $85.41/bbl.

May futures fell in light trading Monday as traders factored in moderating temperatures and looked for prices to decline nearly 20 to 30 cents. At the close May natural gas had dropped 7.3 cents to $4.289 and June shed 7.4 cents to $4.363. May crude oil continued higher, adding 53 cents to $108.47/bbl.

Still stinging from the nationalization last month of 11 idled rigs in Venezuela, contract driller Helmerich & Payne Inc. looked on the bright side Thursday, announcing plans to build nine new rigs for U.S. deployment along with its third fiscal quarter results, which took a hefty hit from a Venezuela-related charge.

May natural gas futures retreated Monday as traders looked to near-term weather forecasts and related weakness for price drivers. At the close the May contract had given up 6.2 cents to $4.008 and June retreated 5.8 cents to $4.111. May crude oil was also weak falling 58 cents to $84.34/bbl.