Pushed

Aided by a developing storm system in the tropics, July natural gas futures pushed higher for much of Friday’s regular session. The expiring contract touched the psychological $4 level just prior to going off the board at $3.949, up 10.5 cents from Thursday’s finish but 8.3 cents lower than the previous week’s close. The August contract gained 11.6 cents to $4.105 on Friday.

Spokane, WA-based Avista Corp. said Fitch Ratings pushed up the company’s credit rating to the lower rung of its investment grade (from “BB+” to “BBB-“). Avista’s credit now is rated as investment grade by the three major rating agencies.

Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) Thursday pushed back the in-service date of interim delivery points on REX-East to the second half of June. Previously REX said service would begin in the first half of June (see Daily GPI, May 18).

Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) has pushed back the in-service date of interim delivery points on REX-East to the second half of June. Previously REX said service would begin in the first half of June (see NGI, May 18). REX said it anticipates commencing service on REX East to Lebanon, OH, in mid to late June. The pipeline affirmed its projection for service to Clarington, OH, on Nov. 1. Initial service to Lebanon is expected to offer capacity of 1,600 MDth/d, which is expected to increase to 1,800 MDth/d. Ultimately, 1,800 MDth/d of capacity is to be available to Clarington as well, REX said. For more information visit www.rexpipeline.com, “Rockies Express — East,” “REX-East — Informational Posting.”

After having pushed June natural gas futures lower Thursday morning on the expectation of a storage build report of approximately 100 Bcf, traders were forced to backpedal higher after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that 95 Bcf was injected into underground inventories for the second consecutive week. Alas, when all was said and done the prompt-month contract ended up closing at $4.292, down 4.1 cents from Wednesday’s finish.

Despite the lack of supportive fundamentals and an electronic Globex trading blackout of just over an hour, traders pushed June natural gas futures convincingly higher on Friday to close at $3.546, up 17.3 cents from Thursday and 14.4 cents above the previous week’s close.

Steep declines in North American drilling activity, especially in the Rocky Mountains, Permian Basin and Midcontinent, pushed down Halliburton’s 1Q2009 earnings from a year ago and forced a 12% reduction to its U.S. and Canadian workforce, the CEO said last week. A sharp drop in U.S. gas drilling also sent Schlumberger Ltd.’s quarterly profits down 28%.

Steep declines in North American drilling activity, especially in the Rocky Mountains, Permian Basin and Midcontinent, pushed down Halliburton’s 1Q2009 earnings from a year ago and forced a 12% reduction to its U.S. and Canadian workforce, the CEO said Monday. Separately, Raymond James & Associates Inc. said it now anticipates more declines in U.S. drilling through 2009.

After starting its run as front-month contract with two days of negligible gains, May natural gas futures were pushed lower Wednesday, potentially in preparation for another bearish out-of-season natural gas storage build. The contract ended up dropping 8.1 cents from Tuesday’s close to finish Wednesday’s regular session at $3.695.