Reason

St. Patrick’s Day will be warm and mostly dry in the U.S., according to The Weather Channel (TWC). That sounded like as good a reason as any for gas prices to drop at nearly all points Monday, although the previous Friday’s 6.3-cent decline by April futures also contributed to the cash market softness.

The Obama administration has proposed stripping away tax breaks from oil and natural producers for “a very simple reason and that is they are not needed,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday.

A trio of producers has asked FERC to delay Rockies Express Pipeline’s (REX) hydrostatic testing of its line in September for one simple reason — monetary gain, REX charges.

Prices rose at a majority of cash market points for a second straight day Thursday, and again the chief reason was prior-day strength in June natural gas futures. Quite a few points in the West provided a harbinger of what is expected in Friday’s market: major losses due to the shrinkage of weather-based load to near nothing. High-linepack OFOs by both of California’s biggest distributors contributed to overall western price weakness.

Tight natural gas plays were at the top of the list for acquisition-minded U.S. buyers in 2007, with merger and acquisition (M&A) total transaction value reaching $49.2 billion in 145 significant deals — both record highs — according to a report prepared by John S. Herold Inc. and Harrison Lovegrove & Co. Ltd.

Natural gas futures moved little Monday as traders saw scant reason for the market to advance or decline from current levels. Strong demand from power generation and industrial use suggests little room for lower prices, but at the same time any advance would require weather conditions to be much different from what is currently forecast. January futures rose a penny to settle at $7.035 and February added 2.3 cents to $7.176.

Eastport, ME (pop. 2,000), may be “the easternmost city in the United States,” but that’s no reason its concerns about the proposed Quoddy Bay liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal should be swept from the map, according to a letter to FERC from a former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service.

Eastport, ME (pop. 2,000), may be “the easternmost city in the United States,” but that’s no reason its concerns about the proposed Quoddy Bay liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal should be swept from the map, according to a letter to FERC from a former rear admiral and assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service.

Natural gas bulls finally had reason to show their horns with pride Wednesday as a late rally pushed the April contract north of $7 to settle at $7.160, up 25 cents on the day.