Lows

After plumbing new two-month lows late last week, the natural gas futures market rebounded impressively Monday on the undeniably bullish combination of surging crude oil prices, forecasts calling for continued below-normal temperatures and expectations ahead of this Thursday’s storage report.

Pressured by revised weather forecasts and weaker cash market prices, the natural gas futures market free-fell lower Monday to notch its lowest point in more than a month. The November contract was the hardest hit by the selling, dropping 27.4 cents to close at $4.512.

There was no encore performance by bulls. Following a four-day, 41-cent rally off Monday’s lows, natural gas futures eked out a small advance in quiet trading Friday. The September contract, which will expire Wednesday, was held to an extremely tight 5.5-cent trading range. It settled at $5.28, up 0.5 cents for the session and within striking distance of Thursday’s new one-month high at $5.34.

Natural gas futures plumbed new seven-week lows Thursday following the news that a stunning 127 Bcf was injected into underground storage facilities last week. Within five minutes of the 10:30 a.m. EDT report, the July contract free-fell 20 cents to $5.42. It moved lower and sideways for the rest of the session until a round of market-on-close selling put the nail in the coffin. July went off the board at $5.291, down 46.6 cents for the session and 65.4 cents below the June contract’s final resting place of $5.945.

With Canada’s natural gas production and storage levels at historical lows, Lehman Brothers analysts said Wednesday that Canadians likely will bid gas away from U.S. consumers and possibly storage, setting the stage for bullish gas prices.

With Canada’s natural gas production and storage levels at historical lows, Lehman Brothers analysts said Wednesday that Canadians likely will bid gas away from U.S. consumers and possibly storage, setting the stage for bullish gas prices.

After teetering above key long-term support for much of the session Friday, natural gas futures tumbled lower in the final minutes of trading last week as a wave of liquidation pressured prices to levels not seen since early January. The prompt month April contract was the hardest hit by the selling, falling down to a low of $5.05 at 2:30 p.m. EDT. April closed at $5.128, down 17.8 cents for the session.

After dipping to new two-week lows following the announcement that 95 Bcf was pulled from storage inventories the week prior, natural gas futures turned higher late Friday morning and managed to claw back above unchanged on the day. With that the January 2003 contract expired at $4.988, up 2.6 cents for the day and about 70 cents above where it began its tenure as Nymex prompt contract back in late November.

After dipping to new three-day lows early in the session, natural gas futures roared back to life yesterday as traders hedged for the possibility that Hurricane Lili could knock out a portion of Gulf Coast production for more than just a few days. After covering a wide, 24.5-cent trading swath, the November contract closed at $4.16 yesterday, up 9.3 cents for the session and just 4 pennies off its high on the day. At 102,851, estimated volume was light, considering the expanded trading range.