Managed

Trading within a slim 16-cent range on the day, July natural gas on Tuesday managed only a high of $6.45 as the contract built upon Monday’s losses. After reaching a low of $6.290 just before noon EDT, the prompt month limped in to close at $6.385, down 7.8 cents on the day, bringing the week’s loss-to-date to 23.8 cents.

On a day the entire petroleum complex plunged lower, June natural gas futures, supported by the psychological $6.000 support level, only managed a 15.7 cent drop on Monday to close at $6.123.

Even with crude futures breaking back above $70/bbl on Tuesday, June natural gas futures managed to resist the temptation to follow. For the second consecutive session, prompt month natural gas traded within a slim range before setting its sights lower. After hobbling between $6.560 and $6.720, June natural gas closed at $6.581, down 11.5 cents on the day and 19.4 cents lower for the week to date.

Traders appeared to take Friday off for the most part as April natural gas futures managed a slim 22-cent range with no significant pushes in either direction, lending credibility to the theory that the market is comfortable just where it is right now. Prompt-month natural gas ended up settling at $6.790, up 3 cents from Thursday but 52.3 cents lower than the previous Friday’s close.

Newfield Exploration Co.’s Gulf of Mexico operations were hammered by hurricanes last fall, but at the end of the year, the Houston-based producer still managed to add 467 Bcfe to its proved reserves, upping the total 12% to 2 Tcfe, which was nearly two times 2005’s production, the company said Thursday. With no significant acquisitions completed last year, about 96% of the new reserves came through the drillbit.

To infuse more money into exploration, Denver-based Whiting Oil and Gas Corp. has acquired all of the limited partnership interests managed by subsidiary Whiting Programs Inc. for $30.5 million. The properties, located in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming, hold approximately 17.4 Bcfe, 62% of which is crude oil, which translates to an acquisition cost of $1.75/Mcfe.

Prices were mixed but mostly moderately higher in the East Friday as a bit of “storm hype” and the previous day’s screen advance managed to trump slightly milder temperatures and the weekend decline in industrial load. Meanwhile western markets, which are essentially immune to tropical storm price impacts, fell at nearly all points except for flat showings by El Paso-Permian and intra-Alberta quotes and a Waha gain of about a quarter.

Dynegy Inc. managed to trim its losses in 2004 compared to the previous year, but the company’s share price slid Thursday after it announced it will lose more in 2005 than it forecast two months ago. The Houston-based company also reported a 4Q2004 net loss of $171 million (minus 47 cents/share) — about $50 million more than Wall Street had forecast — compared with a loss of $554 million (minus $1.49) for 4Q2003.

Dynegy Inc. managed to trim its losses in 2004 compared to the previous year, but its stock price slid nearly 6% early Thursday after the company said it would lose more in 2005 than it forecast two months ago. The Houston-based company also reported a 4Q2004 net loss of $171 million (minus 47 cents/share) — about $50 million more than Wall Street had forecast — compared with a loss of $554 million (minus $1.49) for 4Q2003.