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Despite forecasts of slower regional economic and population growth, the Northeast is expected to consume one-third more natural gas over the next 20 years just to fuel the string of power generation facilities that are being constructed in the region, an official with the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Thursday.

Besieged by a deteriorating fundamental picture in a market that is already firmly entrenched in a downtrend, natural gas futures traders pressured prices to new lows yesterday, amid a seemingly relentless barrage of selling activity. Even the season’s first triple-digit storage withdrawal (124 Bcf) failed to induce much of any buying sympathy, giving traders little choice but to continue to short the market. The February contract closed 19.7 cents lower at $2.268 and in doing so broke its previous all-time low at $2.415 notched back in February 1999.

Investors looking for a rise in exploration and production stocks will be “climbing a wall of worry” at least in the near term, according to FAC/Equities analyst Robert Christensen Jr. There are so many negatives, including packed gas storage inventories, no winter weather to speak of, and low oil and gas prices. But the plummeting rig count and declining production point to a turnaround by the middle of 2002, he said.

Investors looking for a rise in exploration and production stocks will be “climbing a wall of worry” at least in the near term, according to FAC/Equities analyst Robert Christensen Jr. There are so many negatives, including packed gas storage inventories, no winter weather to speak of, and low oil and gas prices. But the plummeting rig count and declining production point to a turnaround by the middle of 2002, he said.

In a surprising show of strength considering the price-bearish fundamental picture, natural gas futures soared to new two-month highs again Monday as fund traders continued their accumulation of long positions. A gap higher open set the stage early yesterday and bears never fully regained control, watching helplessly as November traded to $3.30, its highest level since Aug. 22. The prompt month closed just off that level, up 16.1 cents for the session and 95 cents for the month at $3.202. Estimated volume was typical for an expiration day, with 100,102 contracts changing hands.

Global Marine’s worldwide SCORE, or Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics, for July 2001 dropped 0.3% from the previous month’s SCORE as dayrates continued to decline, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. Rapidly declining natural gas prices this year have had a dampening affect on drilling activity in the Gulf.

Global Marine’s worldwide SCORE, or Summary of Current Offshore Rig Economics, for July 2001 dropped 0.3% from the previous month’s SCORE as dayrates continued to decline, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. Rapidly declining natural gas prices this year have had a dampening affect on drilling activity in the Gulf.

Although Avista Corp. has revised its earnings projections for 2001 upward in the wake of positive second quarter earnings results, company executives said that the political and regulatory uncertainty that continues to swirl around western energy markets muddles its ability to forecast how its energy trading and marketing arm will perform over the next year or so.

Explaining that its results display a new seasonality as a result of its acquisition of Columbia Energy Group, NiSource Inc reported a second quarter net loss of $8 million or 4 cents per basic share, compared to net income of $23.4 million or 19 cents per basic share in the second quarter last year.