Moved

January futures moved lower Friday on very light volume, but traders saw the market entering what could be a prolonged period of sideways price movement that could eventually lead to an advance. At the close January had fallen 5.5 cents to $3.114 and February had retreated 5.9 cents to $3.147. February crude oil rose 15 cents to $99.68/bbl.

A Pennsylvania Senate committee moved Marcellus Shale impact fee legislation forward on Wednesday, but observers suggest that the move is mainly procedural and say there is still much work to be done.

Chicago-based Integrys Energy Group Inc. last Thursday moved into the natural gas transportation business, acquiring two compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling companies. It is a first for the owner/operator of six utilities in the Upper Midwest.

Petrohawk Energy Corp. got into the Eagle Ford Shale and moved fast. Those are the keys to success in shale plays, the company’s vice president of exploration, Charles Cusack, told a Houston audience Wednesday.

On the heels of selling off much of its Barnett Shale assets to focus on the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale and Niobrara Formation, Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. is reporting record production rates from the second quarter of the year.

A stormy cold front that moved south from Canada has begun driving high temperatures in sections of the Midwest and Northeast lower into the 80s and occasionally 70s. The resultant declines in gas demand for power generation, although generally modest, had prices falling at nearly all points Wednesday.

July natural gas futures moved modestly higher Monday as options expired and traders saw the market holding its own. Recent data shows money managers favoring the “sell” side of the trading ledger. At the close July had risen 2.7 cents to $4.256 and August was up 1.4 cents to$4.264. August crude oil slipped 55 cents to $90.61/bbl.

Quotes moved higher at nearly all points Tuesday, but the increases were considerably smaller than those that began the trading week. The cash market got a boost from hot weather that has set up camp in the South recently and from a further advance by prompt-month futures the day before.

Marcellus Shale gas operators in Pennsylvania are poised to comply with last month’s request by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to stop delivering wastewater to 15 municipal wastewater treatment facilities by Thursday (May 19).