Might

The expiring August natural gas futures contract finished on a high note Wednesday as traders suggested the perception of upward price momentum might be enough to carry the market past $5. August closed up 9.9 cents to $4.774 and September added 7.2 cents to $4.718. September crude oil dropped 51 cents to $76.99/bbl.

After projecting earlier that linepack on its California Gas Transmission system might exceed maximum target levels going into the weekend, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) issued a systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO for Saturday. Penalties of $1/Dth were set for exceeding a relatively lenient (at least for PG&E) tolerance of 20% on positive daily imbalances.

Some U.S. lawmakers would likely say BP plc CEO Tony Hayward bet the company with the disastrous Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Hayward might do well to click on UK-based betting website paddypower.com, which Friday was offering five-to-four odds that he would be the first to leave/lose his job at BP.

Concerned about volatility of natural gas prices and what that might mean for development of gas resources and wider use of the fuel, major energy producers, consumer groups, environmental organizations and others have formed a task force to examine how to bring more stability to gas markets.

Concerned about volatility of natural gas prices and what that might mean for development of gas resources and wider use of the fuel, major energy producers, consumer groups, environmental organizations and others have formed a task force to examine how to bring more stability to gas markets.

“Damn the fundamentals; full speed ahead!” as the Civil War’s Admiral David Farragut might have said if asked to analyze the modern-day spot gas market. A smidgen of heating load in parts of Canada and the northern U.S., along with a wee bit of cooling demand from the desert Southwest through the western end of the South, did little to explain rising prices across the board Monday.

“Damn the fundamentals; full speed ahead!” as the Civil War’s Admiral David Farragut might have said if asked to analyze the modern-day spot gas market. A smidgen of heating load in parts of Canada and the northern U.S., along with a wee bit of cooling demand from the desert Southwest through the western end of the South, did little to explain rising prices across the board Monday.

Gas producers who’ve grown weary of low commodity prices might wish their molecules were electrons since those can fetch a better price. After having crunched the numbers at the behest and expense of a gas producer, a small engineering firm believes it can make economic sense to turn gas into power right in the producing field.

Gas producers who’ve grown weary of low commodity prices might wish their molecules were electrons as the latter form of energy can fetch a better price. After having crunched the numbers at the behest and expense of a gas producer, a small engineering firm believes it can make economic sense to turn gas into power right in the producing field.