Quiet

With relatively little economic growth forecast, the outlook for natural gas in the Pacific Northwest may look deceivingly quiet, too, but a report by the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA) offers a few areas of concern.

With relatively little economic growth forecast, the outlook for natural gas in the Pacific Northwest may look deceivingly quiet, too, but the 2013 outlook by the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA) offers a few areas of concern.

The first three weeks of the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season have been quiet, but a low-pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) at the end of the week was threatening to make some noise that would be heard by energy interests.

Three days of fiery debate in the Senate on the Obama administration’s energy policies came to a quiet end Thursday with the defeat of a Democratic-sponsored bill that proposed rolling back billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil and natural gas producers.

Three days of fiery debate in the Senate on the Obama administration’s energy policies came to a quiet end Thursday with the defeat of a Democratic-sponsored bill that proposed rolling back billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil and natural gas producers.

Cash market averages Wednesday for Thursday delivery were mixed but mostly quiet, but operational issues raised prices at points in California. Futures markets drew to a mixed close as bulls continued to cling to technical support levels and bears awaited storage data expected to continue a trend of sub-par withdrawals.

The physical market was mostly quiet Friday and posted gains of about 2 cents, but that’s only if no one counted the meteoric gains caused by weather at numerous points from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. Futures were tame by comparison and the March contract was only able to carve out a 7-cent range. At the close March was unchanged from Thursday at $2.477, which is only 2.2 cents lower than the contract’s close the previous week.

December natural gas futures rose Wednesday in a quiet session punctuated more by trader anticipation of the extended holiday weekend than the release of bullish storage data or options expiration. At the close December had risen 4.5 cents to $3.460 and January had added 4.7 cents to $3.608. Oil and equity markets faltered. January crude oil dropped $1.84 to $96.17/bbl and with 45 minutes to the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 163 points to 11,330.

A vast majority of natural gas cash averages moved higher on Tuesday for Wednesday delivery despite moderating temperatures, a relatively quiet tropical weather picture and a lack of support from the screen’s prior-day action. Even western points, which widely recorded drops on Monday for Tuesday delivery, got in on the upticks on Tuesday.