Rallied

Fueled by the first real blast of warm air of the cooling season, natural gas futures prices rallied and retreated Monday as traders alleviated oversold conditions and then turned and took profits. Local traders were active in the price movement, adding liquidity and volatility to the gas pit at Nymex.

Duke shares rallied nearly 5% to $19.82 Tuesday after Moody’s Investors Service cut the company’s credit ratings but held them at investment grade levels.

Following a four-day period where natural gas futures rallied 10%, traders elected to play it safe Friday ahead of the weekend. Sensing technical support overhead, bulls were not in the buying mood. Bears meanwhile were also quiet, still licking their wounds from the bear trap that resulted in a 43-cent rally last Monday. The June contract finished at $5.806, up 3.4 cents for the session and 55.1 cents higher for the week.

TXU Corp.’s stock rallied slightly Tuesday afternoon on reassurances from company executives after a precipitous morning fall-off and a mid-day trading halt on New York Stock Exchange.

Natural gas futures dipped then rallied Wednesday afternoon, as bulls and bears were caught in a tug-of-war on the news that 111 Bcf was pulled from underground storage facilities last week. With that, March completed its debut as prompt month at $2.08, up 1.3 cents for the session and 5 cents off its $2.03 low notched just 20 minutes prior at 2:10 p.m. EST. Estimated volume was average at 80,499.

Natural gas futures rallied convincingly through much of the trading session Monday, as traders proved they remain unwilling to bet against winter weather eventually taking its toll on price levels. After holding support in the $2.50-52 area for the third session in a row, the December contract shot higher to notch its highest level in more than a week at $2.815. The prompt month finished just off that level at $2.791, up 15.4 cents for the session.

California regulators, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison have rallied in support of the FERC enforcement’s request for a separate investigation into whether El Paso Natural Gas withheld interruptible transportation (IT) service last winter to drive up natural gas prices in Southern California.

California regulators, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison have rallied in support of the FERC enforcement’s request for a separate investigation into whether El Paso Natural Gas withheld interruptible transportation (IT) service last winter to drive up natural gas prices in Southern California.

Although natural gas spot prices rallied to above the $3 mark in late October and early this month, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week the “fundamentals are simply not there for a significant sustained rebound in prices” to occur this year and next.