Merely

Is the latter half of January going to be extra-cold (quite bullish) or merely seasonable (somewhat bearish)? A lot of money could be riding on making the best strategic trading choices in such circumstances, and a few traders have indicated that they’re not sure what path to follow.

As gas-fired plants take up the slack for a substantial amount of retiring coal-fired generation and gas producers are able to back off from drilling merely to hold production, gas prices will get a lift, Credit Suisse Commodity Research Director Teri Viswanath told NGI last week.

As gas-fired power plants take up the slack for substantial retiring coal-fired generation and gas producers are able to back off from drilling merely to hold production, gas prices will get a lift, Credit Suisse Commodity Research Director Teri Viswanath told NGI Tuesday.

Natural gas spot prices are up around 35% from the lows in May, and gas-focused equities have risen 10% over the last month, but is it the beginning of a rally or merely a blip?

Natural gas spot prices are up around 35% from the lows in May, and gas-focused equities have risen 10% over the last month, but is it the beginning of a rally or merely a blip?

Despite the generally moderate to merely cool weather predicted for many areas early this week, prices were able to rally by mostly small amounts Friday at a modest majority of points in trading for Sunday-Monday flows (due to the month-to-month transition Sunday). However, an eastward-moving cold front that brought blizzard-like conditions to the Rockies earlier last week was already cooling much of the Midwest and was due to bring lower temperatures to the Northeast and much of the South eventually.

Equitable Resources Inc. denied reports that it was pulling out of the Northeast Passage pipeline project, but rather said it merely has altered its game plan to get its Appalachian natural gas to market.

Gas storage withdrawals during the week that ended Feb. 9 totaled a massive 259 Bcf, merely 1 Bcf shy of the all-time record set during the week of Jan. 17, 1997, the Energy Information (EIA) reported last week. Furthermore, the cold last week is expected to lead to yet another 200-plus Bcf withdrawal, further diminishing the surplus compared to the five-year average and putting storage levels much closer to what would be considered normal for this time of year.

Wednesday’s general market softness was merely a lull in this week’s upward march of prices. Nearly all points were back on the rise Thursday, with the exception of a few small downturns in the Rockies and at scattered other points. Most gains were in the teens, bracketed by some in single digits and others of 20 cents or more in the Northeast, led by Algonquin citygate spikes of about 60 cents that included a peak quote of $9.25.