Mere

With shale gas the United States has an abundant natural resource that wasn’t on the industrial or economic development radar screen a mere five years ago. In other words, “a competitive edge is coming back to America,” Dow Chemical Co.’s Brian Ames told a Houston audience last week.

With shale gas the United States has an abundant natural resource that wasn’t on the industrial or economic development radar screen a mere five years ago. In other words, “a competitive edge is coming back to America,” Dow Chemical Co.’s Brian Ames told a Houston audience Monday.

Tuesday’s uptick in near-month natural gas futures was exposed as mere short-covering on Wednesday as the May contract returned to the recent trend of plumbing the downside. The front-month contract reached a low of $3.860 before closing out the regular session at $3.869, down 10.4 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Tuesday’s uptick in near-month natural gas futures was exposed as mere short-covering on Wednesday as the May contract returned to the recent trend of plumbing the downside. The front-month contract reached a low of $3.860 before closing out the regular session at $3.869, down 10.4 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Wednesday’s increase of a couple of pennies proved to be a mere pit-stop for natural gas futures rather than a change in market direction as the December contract resumed its larger downward slump on Thursday.

With the December contract’s expiration rally on Monday already a mere memory, January natural gas futures on Tuesday plunged lower as traders weighed cold winter forecasts against the healthy natural gas storage situation. The newly minted front month put in a low on the day of $6.347 before closing the regular session at $6.386, down 44.1 cents from Monday’s close.

April natural gas futures reached $10/MMBtu on Friday as many market insiders had been expecting this week, but the visit was short-lived as the prompt-month contract beat a hasty retreat. After notching a low of $9.705, April ended up closing at $9.769, up 2.7 cents from Thursday’s close and 40.3 cents higher than the previous Friday’s close.

As part of a possible restructuring, Calgary-based Provident Energy Trust is mulling the sale of its U.S. units, a mere four months after one unit spent US$1.45 billion to acquire natural gas properties in three states.

With little to no direction from the natural gas futures market on Monday, which gained a mere penny, cash market traders on Tuesday were left up to their own devices. While most cash market points posted small gains on the day, the Northeast region recorded some significant drops as weather and temperatures relaxed.