Negative

With North America girding once more to do battle with bone-chilling temperatures and plenty of icy precipitation, higher prices came as a surprise for no one Friday. Multi-dollar leaps reigned again in the Northeast, while the rest of the market saw gains ranging from about a nickel to nearly 30 cents. The smallest increases were concentrated in the Midcontinent and Rockies areas.

Florida Gas Transmission kept an Overage Alert Day in effect through at least Friday but loosened the tolerance for negative imbalances from 10% to 25%.

Due to continuing cold in Florida, Florida Gas Transmission issued an Overage Alert Day for market-area customers with a 15% tolerance on negative daily imbalances.

Moody’s Investors Service last week changed its rating outlook for Houston’s EOG Resources Inc. to “negative” from “stable” because of the producer’s plans to aggressively transform itself from a natural gas-weighted producer to one more weighted to natural gas liquids (NGL) and oil.

Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday changed its rating outlook for Houston’s EOG Resources Inc. to “negative” from “stable” because of the producer’s plans to aggressively transform itself from a natural gas-weighted producer to one more weighted to natural gas liquids (NGL) and oil.

Newfield Exploration Co. late Monday said it has agreed to buy 50,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale from EOG Resources Inc. in a transaction valued at $405 million.

Despite negative guidance coming from the screen’s 12.8-cent decline in December natural gas futures Friday, a vast majority of cash points traded Monday for Tuesday delivery moved higher — from a few cents to just more than a dime.

Florida Gas Transmission had an Overage Alert Day nearing the end of its third week in existence Monday, keeping the tolerance for negative daily imbalances at 20%.

Florida Gas Transmission extended an Overage Alert Day through at least Thursday and further tightened the tolerance for negative daily imbalances from 15% to 10%.