natural gas

July natural gas is set to open 3cents higher Thursday morning at $4.67as traders speculate that even the stout injection expected in the morning government storage report as well as succeeding increases may not be enough to prepare for the winter. Overnight oil markets slumped.

Natural gas futures fell following the release of government storage figures that were bit on the high side of what the market was expecting.

Natural gas production is increasing while natural gas trading activity is declining, according to recent reports from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, respectively.

SemGroup Corp. partnership Rose Rock Midstream LP agreed to buy Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s crude oil trucking assets in Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition includes 124 trucks, 122 trailers and other equipment, as well as term transportation agreements at market rates with Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc. About 200 Chesapeake employees are to be offered positions with Rose Rock, more than doubling its workforce. Once completed, Rose Rock would have a fleet with more than 200 trucks and about 350 employees. Most of Rose Rock’s assets would be located in or connected to the Cushing, OK, marketing hub.

Most physical traders elect to get their deals done before the release of storage data, and spot prices overall moved little in Thursday for Friday trading. The big movers on the day were New England points, falling more than $1, but Mid-Atlantic locations were also soft.

After a couple days of strong advances, the streak came to an end on Wednesday as values for physical natural gas for Thursday delivery slumped nearly across the board, from a few pennies to a nickel in most regions, to as much as 20-plus cents at a handful of Northeast locations. One standout in the black was Algonquin Citygates, which has been especially volatile recently due to ongoing capacity constraints.

July natural gas is set to open 2 cents lower Wednesday morning at $4.61 as traders factor in a moderate Atlantic tropical storm season along with a possible cooler June August temperature outlook. Overnight oil markets rose.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposal to consider liquefied natural gas (LNG) export applications only for projects that have been approved by FERC means a developer could spend tens of millions of dollars winning over the Commission only to get a “no” later from a “politicized” DOE, said Excelerate Energy CEO Rob Bryngelson.

As expected, Summit Midstream Partners LLC has exercised its option to acquire a 40% interest in two companies developing midstream infrastructure in southeast Ohio, under a deal that found it entering the Utica Shale in December when it agreed to purchase the assets of Blackhawk Midstream LLC (see Shale Daily,Dec. 23, 2013).