Predominant

Reversing course from late last week when nearly all cash market points fell, gains were predominant in most regions on Monday, despite the fact that the tropical storm radar got a lot less crowded over the weekend. Much of the country except for the West saw upticks from a few pennies to about a dime.

Tuesday’s upward momentum carried over to Wednesday as most cash point averages for Thursday delivery climbed. Increases were predominant in every region except the East, which saw a few gains sprinkled in amongst no changes and declines.

All economic energy sources should be pursued to meet growing demand, but fossil fuels — natural gas, oil and coal — will continue to play the predominant role well into this century because of their scale, reliability and affordability, the CEO of ExxonMobil Corp. said last week.

All economic energy sources should be pursued to meet growing demand, but fossil fuels — natural gas, oil and coal — will continue to play the predominant role well into this century because of their scale, reliability and affordability, the CEO of ExxonMobil Corp. said Monday.

Softness continued in most of the cash market Wednesday, but unlike the double-digit drops that were predominant the day before, nearly all of Wednesday’s declines were around a dime or less. Prices again were weighed down by dwindling cooling load, especially in the eastern end of the South (Atlanta’s high was predicted to fall from around 80 Wednesday to 73 Thursday), and by prior-day futures weakness.

Softness was moderately predominant in a mixed pricing environment Monday. Forecasts of pleasant to cool conditions Tuesday in the Midwest, Northeast and eastern end of the South resulted in drops at a majority of eastern points, although most of the Midcontinent recorded substantive gains.

Devon Energy Corp., now the far-and-away predominant player in the Barnett Shale, expects to be producing “close to a Bcf a day in the near future” following its recent acquisition of privately held Chief Oil & Gas, CEO Larry Nichols said Wednesday. Lower gas prices and high storage levels will have little effect on Devon’s production numbers, he said.

The cash market clung to flat to slightly higher numbers at a few points Tuesday, but the predominant direction of price movement was downward. Although the weather picture continued to look fairly wintry through Wednesday and beyond for the Northeast, Midwest, Plains and to a lesser degree the upper West, storage use appeared to be offsetting demand for new production to a large degree.

Swing prices ranged from flat to down about a nickel at most points Tuesday, as the market began to lose some of the cold weather that had kept numbers relatively firm in comparison to a plunging screen the day before. Some San Juan/Rockies/Pacific Northwest points achieved moderate gains, but CIG, Cheyenne Hub and Questar were retreating to sub-$1 levels again, in response to the region’s general supply glut combined with limited storage injection options.