Plenty

Now that IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) has made its move for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), traders in energy and plenty of other commodities are waiting to see how the rivalry for the venerable CBOT will play out between Internet-age upstart ICE and the more august Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The latest merger news is yet more evidence of consolidation and globalization among the commodity exchanges.

Unlike most of the other developers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals along the Southern California coast, Australia-based Woodside Natural Gas has plenty of reserves and liquefaction capacity poised to target the most attractive markets in Asia and North America. As a result, it has gone to a two-vessel concept for its Ocean Way proposal that would inject new gas imports into California without building permanent storage and regasification facilities offshore or on land.

Unlike most of the other developers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals along the Southern California coast, Australia-based Woodside Natural Gas has plenty of reserves and liquefaction capacity poised to target the most attractive markets in Asia and North America. As a result, it has gone to a two-vessel concept for its Ocean Way proposal that would inject new gas imports into California without building permanent storage and regasification facilities offshore or on land.

The cash market had plenty of negative guidance in recording double-digit losses across the board Thursday. The pleasantly seasonable mid-spring conditions that dominate the current weather picture, a lengthy futures slide that continued Thursday, and the usual drop in industrial load that lowers weekend volumes all added to a powerful price depressant.

Plenty of gas in storage and warmer temperatures on the way will make for happier days for natural gas consumers. Investors in the industry, however, might want to buckle their seatbelts and prepare for some unpleasantness as the market transitions through a light injection season on its way to another winter.

Plenty of gas in storage and warmer temperatures on the way will make for happier days for natural gas consumers. Investors in the industry, however, might want to buckle their seatbelts and prepare for some unpleasantness as the market transitions through a light injection season on its way to another winter.

It’s not about the regasification, at least not anymore. The U.S. market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has enough receipt terminal capacity for now (see related story) and plenty planned for the future. Those whose business it is to worry about gas supply have turned their attention to U.S. market competitors and the potential for upstream problems that could disrupt supply.

Bumping Hurricane Rita to a Category Four hurricane on Wednesday morning and then to a Category Five Wednesday afternoon proved that there is still plenty of room to the upside for natural gas futures to explore. After setting a new all-time record high of $13.24 in the overnight Access trading session, October natural gas futures on Wednesday ended up settling at $12.594, up 10.2 cents from Tuesday, but 6.9 cents lower than the all-time high prompt-month settle of $12.663, which was set on Monday.

With about a 10 Bcf withdrawal expected in this week’s storage report, working gas levels will end the withdrawal season with nearly 187 Bcf more in storage than average over the last 11 years, according to the Energy Information Administration’s data. That will mean more gas to meet summer power demand, but it probably won’t be enough to put downward pressure on prices, according to two industry experts.