Pattern

The market didn’t stray from the seesaw pattern it had set earlier in the week. After starting out Monday with losses that often were about a dime or higher, prices had rallied somewhat to a near-flat performance Tuesday before yielding to small declines Wednesday. They reversed course again Thursday with mostly small upticks in spite of seeing no appreciable increases in cooling load.

Traders noted that the decline Wednesday in natural gas futures fit into an overall trading pattern of tumbling energies with crude oil falling nearly $2/bbl., gasoline diving more than 10 cents/gallon and heating oil shedding more than 7 cents/gallon. At the close September futures had skidded 6.5 cents to $4.090 and October was down 5.4 cents to $4.102. September crude oil swan-dived $1.86 to $91.93/bbl.

There was something familiar about the pattern of Wednesday’s cash market. Perhaps it was because exactly two weeks earlier Northeast citygates were also spiking in the face of a approaching winter storm while nearly all other points softened moderately.

Rapid warming of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and a collapsing El Nino pattern in the Pacific could create 16-18 named storms during the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, which would make 2010 one of the most active seasons on record, according to AccuWeather.com Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.

Rapid warming of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and a collapsing El Nino pattern in the Pacific could create 16-18 named storms during the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, which would make 2010 one of the most active seasons on record, according to AccuWeather.com Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.

Alberta will remain a blank spot on the shale gas production map of North America until the provincial government overhauls unfavorable royalties, according to a study circulating in the industry capital of Calgary.

Alberta will remain a blank spot on the shale gas production map of North America until the provincial government overhauls unfavorable royalties, according to a study circulating in the industry capital of Calgary.

Alberta will remain a blank spot on the shale gas production map of North America until the provincial government overhauls unfavorable royalties, according to a study circulating in the industry capital of Calgary.

Weekend prices showed almost a directly opposite pattern from deals done a day earlier. Whereas Northeast citygates had spiked Thursday while the rest of the market was softer, on Friday it was the Northeast (along with the Rockies) plunging while all other points were rising, based largely on the bullish Nymex response to Thursday morning’s storage withdrawal report.