Outside

Finding only modest heating load outside the West, and pressured by the screen’s drop of slightly more than 60 cents the day before, swing prices for the weekend plunged Friday. Losses ranged from about C25 cents for intra-Alberta gas to a little more than 90 cents at the Algonquin citygate; nearly all were half a dollar or more.

A general lack of weather load outside some parts of the West and Upper Plains and the previous day’s screen drop resulted in mixed pricing Tuesday in which losses slightly outweighed gains. There was little rhyme or reason in the distribution of movement, as various points within specific market areas went both up and down.

A general lack of weather load outside some parts of the West and Upper Plains and the previous day’s screen drop resulted in mixed pricing Tuesday in which losses slightly outweighed gains. There was little rhyme or reason in the distribution of movement, as various points within specific market areas went both up and down.

Outside of heat across the southern tier of states, the cash market could find little new fundamental support upon its emergence Tuesday from the holiday weekend. But due to spikes throughout the energy futures complex being ignited by further weekend violence in the Middle East, traders anticipate large gains in physical gas numbers Wednesday.

With few bastions of relatively mild temperatures left outside the Florida peninsula, South Texas and the southern reaches of Arizona and California, all points were united Tuesday in realizing moderate to large price gains. Transco Zone 6-New York City notched a new weekly peak of $19 in leading most Northeast citygates in triple-digit spikes as the region hunkered down for yet another nor’easter barrage.

No movie was involved, but “The Big Chill” descended on the Northeast Tuesday and sent delivered prices in New England skyrocketing as high as $30. Outside the Northeast, the market was decidedly mixed around flatness with numbers ranging from a quarter down to half a dollar higher.

Winter made its official debut Sunday, but outside of the Rockies and Upper Plains there was little evidence of the season Monday. Forecasts of continuing relatively mild weather through the weekend helped accelerate the price declines that had begun Friday. Monday’s losses were generally in the range of 35-85 cents, with most exceeding half a dollar.

Murphy Oil Corp. is selling off some of its conventional oil and gas properties in western Canada to free up some cash for projects in growth areas outside of North America. The properties for sale have total proved reserves of about 40 MMboe and currently produce 20 Mboe/d. The announcement was light on details, but the El Dorado, AR-based producer holds an interest in more than two million acres in western Canada. Although it did not detail what it would sell, Murphy plans to keep its Hybernia and Terra Nova properties off of Canada’s East Cost. The company also plans to retain its 5% stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd., which is the world’s largest producer of oil from oil sands. A Murphy spokeswoman said the properties for sale have garnered attention, especially by Canadian-based royalty trusts. Following the sale, the company most likely would use the proceeds to invest in “higher growth areas,” including Malaysia, where it is a large lease holder. Earlier this year, Murphy announced a significant discovery in Malaysia, which could contain 100-300 million bbl. In November, Murphy dropped its third quarter earnings profit $4.4 million because of costs from an unsuccessful natural gas well in Alberta. The gas prospect lowered Murphy’s third quarter net income by 5 cents/share.

With nearly all areas outside a strip along the Gulf Coast and parts of the Southwest doing some serious chilling out Tuesday, prices again made big gains. Although the Northwest relaxed a bit from the dollar-plus upticks it had seen Monday, Tuesday’s strength was more solidly based because of significantly larger advances in non-Northeast markets and a lack of weakness in the West.