Post

Amid a devastating combination of weak cash prices andpost-storage-release selling, natural gas futures tunneled lowerWednesday afternoon in a long liquidation frenzy that caught morethan a few traders off guard. After checking to its highest levelin more than a month early in the trading session, the Aprilcontract picked up downward momentum throughout the afternoon tofinish the day at $5.384, or 23.7 cents lower, but 28.7 cents morethan where it was when it began its tenure as prompt month atNymex.

Winter was retaining a tougher post-season grip on severalregions’ weather than expected Tuesday, and the result waswidespread price rises that ranged from flat to barely higher atthe PG&E citygate and Rockies, to about a quarter at someNortheast and Pacific Northwest points. A sharply higher Aprilfutures contract also lent some support to cash on its penultimateday of trading, sources said.

Much of the North American market seemed to be joining theCanadians in still being on holiday Tuesday. In very subduedactivity scattered points (mostly in the California/PacificNorthwest region) registered upticks, but most ranged from mildlysofter to down as much as about $3.50 at the Chicago citygate.

In an attempt to capture the price discovery offered in therapidly expanding electronic exchange market, NGI added a new pricereport to its daily publication, NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index, andto its website. “NGI’s Electronic Platform Trading Index” will becomprised of deals done each morning before 11:30 a.m. (CST) andwill be published on its website at http://intelligencepress.com by1 p.m. (CST) each business day and in NGI’s Daily Gas Price Indexthe following day.

In an attempt to capture the price discovery offered in the rapidlyexpanding electronic exchange market, NGI is adding a new price reportto its website. “NGI’s Electronic Platform Trading Index” will becomprised of deals done each morning before 11:30 a.m. Central Timeand will be published on its website at http://intelligencepress.com by 1 p.m. Central Time each business day.

After beginning the post-Thanksgiving week with two days ofsoftness, the cash market got back on a firming track Wednesday intrading for the last day of November. The upticks were fairlymoderate overall, ranging from slightly down at a few scatteredpoints to Northeast gains in the teens.

Despite the large post expiration-day futures correctiondownward last Thursday, prices rebounded some Friday and for goodreason, according to Salomon Smith Barney energy analyst RobertMorris.

Despite the huge post expiration-day futures correction lastThursday, prices rebounded some Friday and for good reason,according to Salomon Smith Barney energy analyst Robert Morris.

Spot gas prices quickly rebounded from the long holidayweekend’s overall softness and made large gains across the boardTuesday. Rocky Mountains/San Juan points led the way with gainsranging from about 20 cents to a little more than 60 cents.