Reaching

Natural gas supply and demand set new records in 2010, while regional changes in production — including that from the nation’s fast-growing shale plays — altered the industry landscape, according to a state of the markets report issued Thursday by FERC’s Office of Enforcement.

Due to peak temperatures in Florida reaching the 90s, Florida Gas Transmission issued an Overage Alert Day for market-area customers Monday, setting a 25% tolerance for negative daily imbalances.

Even with three days of flat to much stronger pricing Monday through Wednesday, only Marcellus Shale numbers in northeast Pennsylvania were able to eke out a small gain during the week ending Thursday. Other plays fell 6-12 cents during that period.

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) marked a large decline in August, reaching their lowest level of the year, according to the latest data available from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) marked a large decline in August, reaching their lowest level of the year, according to the latest data available from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Heat levels would keep reaching the low 90s to 110 area Tuesday in the southern third of the U.S., but that failed to keep the weekend’s price gains going Monday. Otherwise, peak temperatures were forecast to be limited to the 80s in most other areas outside the south end of the Northeast.

Despite heat levels due to approach the century mark or higher in much of the southern U.S. and reaching the 90 degree area in the Northeast and Midwest, the cash market shrugged off such forecasts in falling by mostly single-digit amounts Wednesday.

After reaching a two-month high for the spot contract on Tuesday at $4.494, the resulting tumble that began Tuesday afternoon spilled over into Wednesday’s regular trading session as June futures plummeted 18.4 cents to close at $4.158.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Kerry (D-MA) have outlined a framework for reaching agreement on comprehensive climate change legislation in the Senate, which would include provisions on promoting nuclear generation and expanding oil and natural gas development.