Regular

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted out a conditionalcertificate at yesterday’s regular meeting for the proposed 70-milelong Horizon Pipeline to carry 380 MMcf/d from the Joliet, IL, hubinto northern Illinois.

After suffering expiration-day losses in both regular and Accesstrading sessions Wednesday, natural gas futures made a feebleattempt at higher ground before ultimately slipping lower at theclosing bell yesterday. With that the May contract finished itsfirst day as prompt month with a 3.5 cent decline to $2.83. Volumewas extremely weak with just 48,969 contracts changing hands.

After notching gains in both the regular and Access tradingsessions Wednesday, the futures market sank again yesterday asbulls battled with an increasingly negative technical picture andunsupportive weather outlooks. Within an hour of its $2.895 open,the December contract had already slipped a nickel lower. From thatpoint it continued to chop lower for the rest of the session,finishing down 4.7 cents at $2.826.

Adding to late session advances made in both regular and Accesstrading sessions Tuesday, natural gas futures pressed higheryesterday morning as local traders bid the market to fresh highs.However, once above the $3.10 level, the buying dried up openingthe opportunity for an aggressive sell-off that ushered the promptmonth lower in the afternoon. The September contract slipped 2.9cents to $3.03 after notching a $2.995 low.

Feeding off momentum gained in both the regular and accesstrading sessions Wednesday, the futures market muscled higheryesterday as the May contract notched its highest price since lastNovember. After gapping higher to open at $2.215, May traded mostlysideways Thursday morning before an early afternoon buying surgemapped out yesterday’s high price at $2.23. The contract finishedjust off that level at $2.225, a 5.1-cent advance on the day.