Relatively

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.

Spot prices continued to wither Wednesday due to a combination of relatively moderate temperatures in several regions around the midpoint of what is normally the hottest month of the year and further softness in prior-day futures. And despite continuing deficits of current storage compared to year-ago levels and the five-year average, traders appear unconcerned about inventories, especially with what was generally expected to be a very busy Atlantic hurricane season having little impact so far on Gulf of Mexico output.

Finding only relatively moderate cooling load for mid-August in many areas and weighed down slightly by the previous Friday’s near-nickel futures drop, nearly all of the cash market followed up Friday’s gains with softening Monday.

Even with heat forecasts in most areas remaining on the seasonal to relatively mild side for the middle of one of the hottest months in the year, prices rose at nearly all locations Friday. Largely ignoring the usual weekend downturn of industrial demand, the cash market instead derived most of its strength from the previous day’s below-expectations storage injection report for the preceding week and the subsequent bullish reaction by futures traders.

Relatively moderate heat levels in the Mid-South and Northeast, along with mild to cool forecasts for Canada, the Pacific Northwest and sections of the Midwest, failed to prevent a large majority of locations from realizing small price gains Tuesday. However, inland California was beginning to join much of the desert Southwest in anticipating highs ranging from the mid 90s to more than 110, and the Rockies — while still fairly moderate — had predicted peak temperatures start to climb into the low 80s.

Sempra Energy is one of many U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal operators weighing its options for exporting domestic supplies as LNG given North America’s relatively low gas prices for gas. The LNG unit for the San Diego-based energy holding company said last week it will seek a partner to share the market risks of a liquefaction project.

Sempra Energy is one of many U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal operators weighing its options for exporting domestic supplies as LNG given North America’s relatively bargain prices for gas compared to Europe and Asia. The LNG unit for the San Diego-based energy holding company said Tuesday it would seek a partner to share the market risks of a liquefaction project.

There is no doubt that shale gas will be a factor in future natural gas supply forecasts, but how big the role that turns out to be is still uncertain as a “huge learning curve” accelerates, a lead gas analyst at the California Energy Commission (CEC) told NGI last Friday.

A relatively short trip from the Haynesville Shale and about as old as the Eagle Ford, the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) — which stretches from Texas through Louisiana and into Mississippi — could now be considered the “penny stock” of the shale plays. Those who get in early will get in cheaply, but they’ll have to stomach some risk as the play is not yet a sure thing like its more mature peers.