Noted

May natural gas futures drifted lower Friday as traders noted little in the way of buying as prices completed the sixth day in a row in the loss column and traders shifted their interest to the petroleum complex. At the end of the day May had fallen 1.6 cents to $4.041 and June shed 1.9 cents to $4.107. May crude oil rocketed higher by $2.49 to $112.79/bbl.

Kern River, which had noted low linepack in a bulletin board posting Monday morning, said its system lost an additional 50,000 Dth during that gas day. That prompted the pipeline to bar any shipper drafting in a critical notice Tuesday. Kern River said it will curtail physical flows if necessary and asked customers with due-pipe imbalances to schedule payback. In response to Kern River’s situation, Las Vegas-based Southwest Gas issued a Hold Burn to Scheduled Quantities notice effective Monday until further notice.

Enthusiasm for uncovering oil deposits in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas hasn’t waned at El Paso Corp. In fact, the company likely will move more rigs into its leasehold as the year progresses, CEO Doug Foshee said Thursday.

March natural gas futures fell in moderate trading Wednesday as traders noted the market’s continued inability to reposition itself above the psychologically important $4 resistance level. At the closing bell March futures were 5.5 cents lower at $3.921 and April had lost 6.9 cents to $3.961. March crude oil posted a gain of 67 cents to $84.99/bbl.

March natural gas futures suffered double-digit losses Monday as traders noted a change in the weather forecasts to above-normal temperatures for much of the country in the six-to 10-day period, and the short-term price outlook remains soft. At the close March futures fell 20.6 cents to $4.104 and April shed 20.2 cents to $4.140. March crude oil tumbled $1.55 to $87.48/bbl.

The February natural gas futures contract took a nasty fall on expiration Thursday. Traders noted that a 174 Bcf withdrawal reported by the Energy Information Administration included a 10 Bcf adjustment, thus tempering the amount of gas actually used.

Futures were mixed in light pre-inventory report trading Wednesday. Short-term traders noted little in the way of directional trading and cited forecasts of warmer eastern weather expected to take some of the edge off any weather-driven advances. At the close February futures fell one-tenth of a penny to $4.287 and March added 1.1 cents to $4.298. February crude oil fell 37 cents to $91.12/bbl.

Northwest noted that during Dec. 1-15 maintenance at Pocatello Compressor Station, operational capacity at Kemmerer Compressor Station will be limited to 675,000 Dth/d. Since current primary firm scheduled quantities through Kemmerer exceed this capacity, Northwest said Monday afternoon it is issuing a Recall Advisory and declaring an OFO that will take effect Wednesday until further notice for shippers who have an OFO obligation (contract-specific, realignment and/or must-flow) through Kemmerer. See the bulletin board for advisory/OFO details.

Shale gas basins are responsible for North America’s gas boom, but it’s producer joint ventures (JV) that are in part responsible for the seemingly relentless drilling in a low-price environment. JVs with drilling carries will help support drilling activity, supporting a rig count that will “only fall modestly in 2011,” Barclays Capital analysts said Tuesday.