Pricing

Given time, oil and natural gas prices will come back in line with their traditional 6:1 energy-equivalent pricing. Whether oil prices decline or gas prices rise remains to be seen, but BP CEO Tony Hayward said he thinks it will be a bit of both.

As Wednesday’s swing to mixed pricing that was mostly softer had hinted, the impending return of warmer weather in the East and the depressant effect of four straight losing sessions by December futures combined to bring cash prices down hard at nearly all locations Thursday. Only flat El Paso-San Juan numbers averted a total sweep of softer quotes.

Given time, oil and natural gas prices will come back in line with their traditional 6:1 energy-equivalent pricing. Whether oil prices decline or gas prices rise remains to be seen, but BP CEO Tony Hayward said he thinks it will be a bit of both.

Except for the Rockies, most points saw little change in pricing Thursday, with small gains handily outnumbering small losses. A supportive 14.7-cent prior-day increase by November futures and a moderate amount of heating load in northern market areas competed with mild weather in most other regions, an ongoing lack of tropical storm activity and the knowledge that storage injection options are rapidly disappearing in vying for influence on price movement.

Hurricane activity and the credit crunch caused by subprime mortgages are likely to dominate both oil and natural gas pricing in the next two months, according to a new report by a Winchester, MA-based energy research firm.

Thursday’s market had a little something for everybody: large gains and losses coupled with small gains and losses, with a fair amount of flat pricing to boot. Moderating weather trends going into the weekend (except in much of the West) and the inclusion of a weekend flow day in Thursday’s trading competed with Wednesday’s 5.2-cent expiration-day gain by July futures for influence in the cash market.

As gas traders continue to keep a close eye on the coming summer, the mixed-pricing dynamic that was prevalent last week carried over into Monday’s cash market as the East and the Gulf Coast recorded losses while the Midcontinent turned in both pluses and minuses and the West scored mostly gains.

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.

Looking to take a second bite of the apple, Nymex Holdings Inc., the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc., announced last week the pricing of its secondary offering of seven million shares of its common stock at $136.50 per share.