Proving

Proving that it is unwise to say “never” when talking about commodity market price levels, traders were reminded of the valuable lesson Wednesday as February natural gas futures continued recording new lows and broke below $5 — a number that some traders and analysts thought would “never” be broken on this bear move. The prompt-month contract ended up putting in a $4.940 low before closing the regular session at $4.970, down 21.4 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Proving Monday’s 49.1-cent gain was all bark and no bite in the momentum category, December natural gas futures on Tuesday plummeted as global economy concerns continue to raise questions about commodity demand strength and weather forecasts continued to shift. The front-month contract ended up closing Tuesday’s regular session at $6.705, down 54.3 cents from Monday’s finish.

Proving that it pays to follow instructions, TransCanada Corp. has been chosen by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her administration to build a pipeline from the North Slope to Alberta to commercialize the state’s vast natural gas reserves. The pipeline company’s proposal, called TC Alaska, will be presented to state lawmakers, who will have 60 days to decide whether to move forward with the project.

Proving that it pays to follow instructions, TransCanada Corp. has been chosen by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her administration to build a pipeline from the North Slope to Alberta to commercialize the state’s vast natural gas reserves. The pipeline company’s proposal, called TC Alaska, will be presented to state lawmakers, who will have 60 days to decide whether to move forward with the project.

Alberta has long been the alpha dog of Canada’s natural gas exploration, but British Columbia is quickly proving it can run with the pack. Nexen Inc. last week became the latest of several pedigreed gas producers to track down success in the emerging shale prospects in the Horn River Basin.

Alberta has long been the alpha dog of Canada’s natural gas exploration, but British Columbia is quickly proving it can run with the pack. Nexen Inc. this week became the latest of several pedigreed gas producers to track down success in the emerging shale prospects in the Horn River Basin.

As predicted, the latest spate of cold weather is proving to be short-lived, resulting in mixed price movement Thursday that was slightly weighted to the downside. Many points were less than a nickel up or down from flat.

The growing popularity of the master limited partnership (MLP) business structure is proving beneficial as the natural gas industry struggles to expand infrastructure, but another trend — a shortage of skilled workers — could present major problems in the near future, panelists told FERC.

The growing popularity of the master limited partnership (MLP) business structure is proving beneficial as the natural gas industry struggles to expand infrastructure, but another trend — a shortage of skilled workers — could present major problems in the near future, panelists told FERC.