Meager

After slumping the last two days, natural gas cash market averages across the country staged a meager rebound on Thursday for Friday delivery despite the fact that futures prices continued to decline.

After recording its third consecutive low for the downtrend in as many days, natural gas futures staged a meager rebound on Tuesday as the November contract reached a high of $3.530 before closing the regular session at $3.513, up 8.2 cents from Monday.

Natural gas futures staged a meager rebound on Wednesday as expectations for Thursday’s natural gas storage report were for a smaller-than-normal injection. The August contract recorded a low of $4.477 before closing the regular session at $4.616, up 6.8 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Prices continued to fall at all points Friday as weather-based load remained meager, prior-day screen guidance was negative and concerns about near-term storage injection availability mounted. Only the PG&E citygate decline, which was affected by interior Northern California temperatures still forecast to approach 100 during the weekend, was by less than double digits.

Canadian natural gas production is expected to increase by a meager 0.2% this year and then begin to decline as conventional gas extraction in Alberta slowly falls, the Conference Board of Canada reported last week.

Canadian natural gas production is expected to increase by a meager 0.2% this year and then begin a decline as conventional gas extraction in Alberta slowly falls, the Conference Board of Canada said Wednesday.

Though a casual look at the 4.7-cent increase and $4.677 close in September futures might suggest the trading action was price-supportive Tuesday, that analysis fails to take into account the myriad of factors that paint a decidedly bearish picture of the trading session. Not only did the natural gas futures market fail to keep pace with crude oil prices Tuesday, but it also lacked any substantial buying boost after probing down to key support at $4.60 on Monday. At 51,457, estimated volume was also weak, evidence that the market is without a clear consensus.

Far from satisfied with the relatively meager returns in the gas pipeline business, TransCanada PipeLines CEO Hal Kvisle said his company plans to spend about $10 billion over the next five years on power generation projects.

Far from satisfied with the relatively meager returns in the gas pipeline business, TransCanada PipeLines CEO Hal Kvisle said his company plans to spend about $10 billion over the next five years on power generation projects.