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Natural gas drilling in the shallow Central Gulf of Mexico drewthe most bids, which were mostly from U.S. independents, in thisweek’s Minerals Management Service lease sale. MMS reported that60% of the bids were for shallow water tracts in acreage less than200 meters deep, considered the best places for quick gasproduction, with total bidding of $227.654 million.

After a weather-delayed opening, natural gas futures checkedmostly sideways Tuesday despite the presence of some moderatelybullish weather and storage news. After carving out its narrow5.5-cent trading range during the first 30 minutes of trading, theApril contract shuffled sideways to close 2.1 cents lower at$5.315.

End-of-month convergence wasn’t very effective as mostlate-February swing prices earlier this week were appreciablystronger than March indexes. However, except for dropoffs at a fewscattered points, first-of-March convergence with indexes wasfairly tidy. Cold weather spreading into the South was largelyresponsible for initial March aftermarket prices to gain anywherefrom about a nickel to 20 cents over last-of-February numbers.

The swing market kept falling Friday, but outside of continuedtriple-digit plunges in California, the softness was generallymild. The Southwest basins and Rockies joined a few scatteredMidcontinent and Gulf Coast points in declines of about 15 cents ormore, but otherwise the downticks were about a dime or less.

Mostly moderate price declines concentrated in the Gulf Coastand Northeast were outweighed Wednesday by small to large increasesin other markets. The biggest gains were in California and theRockies/Southwest, while Transco Zone 6 (NYC) took the biggest hitof 65 cents.

End-of-December swing prices rebounded Friday from the week’searlier slide, rising by a dollar or more in many cases but alsofeaturing a few scattered declines. The January aftermarket beganabove first-of-month indexes by varying degrees except atCalifornia/Pacific Northwest points.

With little in the way of fresh fundamental or technical news,natural gas futures limped mostly sideways yesterday as bargainbuying stemmed an early test of support. That enabled the Februarycontract to trim losses throughout the afternoon, closing 2.3 centslower on the session at $9.263

With reserves dropping due mostly to in-state transmissionproblems causing potential shortfalls centered in the northern halfof the state, California’s state-chartered independent systemoperator (Cal-ISO) went after emergency supplies Tuesday byinvoking the federal order issued by DOE Secretary Bill Richardsonlast week as California faced the prospect of rolling blackoutsbecause it reserves dipped below 1.5% at one point (Dec. 13).

With 5,900 MW of new mostly gas-fired generation capacity comingonline this winter across the United States, the North AmericanElectric Reliability Council concluded in its latest WinterAssessment that “electric resources will be adequate” to meetprojected electricity demand.