Losses

ConocoPhillips, the first of the oil majors to issue 4Q2009 earnings, bounced back from year-ago losses on stronger oil prices and better-than-expected results from its cost reduction plan, the Houston-based producer said Wednesday.

ConocoPhillips, the first of the oil majors to issue 4Q2009 earnings, bounced back from year-ago losses on stronger oil prices and better-than-expected results from its cost reduction plan, the Houston-based producer said Wednesday.

November natural gas futures managed to carve out a modest gain Wednesday as traders were expecting a bounce from Tuesday’s losses and brokers were locking in Rocky Mountain basis and buying protective put options.

Already weak cash prices got much weaker Friday, as Thursday’s across-the-board double-digit losses not only continued but grew much bigger to boot. The existing general lack of weather-based demand was exacerbated Friday by the previous day’s 37.5-cent dive by November futures and the decline of industrial load associated with a weekend market.

The October aftermarket got going on a moderately bearish note Wednesday, but in nearly all cases the losses were quite a bit smaller than Tuesday’s September-ending quotes, which saw double-digit declines at all points. A bit of extra chill and the previous day’s gain of 4.5 cents in the first prompt-month trading by November futures may have helped spur increases at several points, mostly in the West, but weak weather fundamentals continued to deny increases in most of the East.

Sharply lower natural gas prices cut into Williams’ earnings in 2Q2009, but the losses were mitigated by reduced project costs and hedging practices, the company said Thursday.

Gains, concentrated in the Midcontinent, Northeast and much of the West, modestly outnumbered losses elsewhere Monday as heat across the southern third of the U.S. continued to wrestle with relatively moderate conditions to the north for primary market influence. The previous Friday’s 3.5-cent loss by August futures and the return of industrial load after the weekend were other opposing price factors.

TGT said Thursday it had resolved the severe weather problems that caused intermittent losses of land-line phone service, no cell phone service and connectivity issues with its GasQuest nominations system. However, its Owensboro, KY office was closed for a second day as a county state of emergency remained in effect, a spokesman said. A security office for Southern Star Central, which is also headquartered in Owensboro, said that pipeline’s office also was forced to close Wednesday by the winter storm and remained closed Thursday except for essential personnel.

The Alberta government last week scaled back its controversial royalty rate plan for natural gas and oil producers, citing job losses and lower energy prices, but the revisions may be too late for producers that already have set exploration budgets for 2009, some to the benefit of neighboring provinces.