Path

Taking a trading path similar to the one seen last Friday, April natural gas futures traded a slim 14.5-cent range during Monday’s regular trading session before settling at $7.254, up 1.1 cents on the day. Trading on Globex prior to the regular session also featured another failed attempt at breaching support down near $7.100.

With lowly Ernesto — now a tropical depression — sticking to a northern path and allowing the Gulf Coast to continue to quietly observe Hurricane Katrina’s one-year anniversary, October natural gas futures dug lower Wednesday, exploring price territory carved out Tuesday by the expiring September contract.

While another shutdown of Central Gulf production is possible by the weekend given the projected path of Tropical Storm Wilma, producers made relatively substantial gains restoring supply over this past weekend. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) said that 149 MMcf/d of shut-in offshore production was restored since Friday, and consulting firm Bentek Energy said scheduled gas flows Monday on regional pipelines indicate onshore and offshore production rose about 414 MMcf/d.

With Hurricane Rita’s path still uncertain, the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (Nymex) said Thursday afternoon it will extend trading hours on Sunday, Sept. 25 in order to give its members more flexibility. The extension is only for Nymex Access electronic trading, Nymex ClearPort electronic trading and clearing, and Nymex miNY futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange GLOBEX trading system.

Taking their cue from weakness on the petroleum side as well as a sigh of relief regarding Hurricane Ophelia’s path, October natural gas futures on Monday explored lower, breaking below $11 at one point before settling at $11.031, down 23.2 cents on the day.

With Hurricane Emily’s projected path shifting a little south to the northeastern Gulf Coast of Mexico, the futures market breathed a sigh of relief on Monday, bringing fixed cash prices down as well. Basis, however, widened at many market points due to the continued oppressive heat and humidity across most of the country that kept power generators active.

Although one hurdle has been cleared from the path of the C$7 billion Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline, many remain, project sponsors emphasized last week following an economic development deal signed by the Canadian government and the Deh Cho First Nations. The deal resolved one of the major issues preventing development of the long proposed project.

Although one hurdle has been cleared from the path of the C$7 billion Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline, many remain, project sponsors emphasized. The economic development deal signed by the Canadian government and the Deh Cho First Nations resolved only one of the major issues preventing development of the long proposed project (see Daily GPI, July 12).

Continuing its divergent path from the petroleum futures complex, July natural gas on Monday retreated as August crude explored north of $60/bbl. Looking at expiration at the end of business Tuesday, the natural gas prompt month traded as low as $7.12 on Monday before settling at $7.138, down 22.2 cents from Friday’s settle.