Release

Buoyed by double-digit gains in the cash market, along with the release of another in a string of bullish long-range weather outlooks, natural gas futures erupted higher Tuesday, as traders pressured the market to new four-week highs. The November contract gapped a dime above Monday’s high, and never looked back yesterday, finishing with an impressive 21.4-cent advance and $2.592 closing price. Trading volume was high, with an estimated 90,649 contracts changing hands.

Buoyed by the release of a second-straight smaller-than-expected storage injection figure, natural gas futures climbed back from negative territory yesterday afternoon to notch a new three-week high, as weak shorts scrambled to cover their positions. The November contract finished at $2.48, up 9.2 cents for the session, but off slightly from the $2.54 high notched about 10 minutes earlier.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service, expected this week to release its proposed five-year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas leasing program for 2002 through 2007, received comments and suggestions from nine major energy companies and several industry groups.

After overcoming an early setback, natural gas bulls stole the show for the third-straight session yesterday, as commercial traders propelled the futures market past several important technical levels. By virtue of its 12.2-cent advance and $4.301 closing price, the July contract has rebounded almost 60 cents from last Friday’s lows to notch a new three-week high.

Energy trading platforms TradeSpark, Intercontinental Exchange and RedMeteor Inc. all reported recently that trading volumes on their individual platforms are heading in only one direction…up.

Amid a devastating combination of weak cash prices andpost-storage-release selling, natural gas futures tunneled lowerWednesday afternoon in a long liquidation frenzy that caught morethan a few traders off guard. After checking to its highest levelin more than a month early in the trading session, the Aprilcontract picked up downward momentum throughout the afternoon tofinish the day at $5.384, or 23.7 cents lower, but 28.7 cents morethan where it was when it began its tenure as prompt month atNymex.

FERC last week issued Northwest Pipeline a blanket certificate to install and operate three existing portable compressor units as needed to help offset the heavy demands that have been placed on certain shippers by the pipeline’s continual operational flow orders (OFOs).

In what would be described in meteorological terms as a blizzardof proposals, California Gov. Gray Davis and his Democraticmajority state Assembly leaders Thursday announced multiple newlaws to push accelerated generation and conservation efforts thatare envisioned to unfold at a frenetic pace in the weeks and monthsahead.

President Clinton has ordered the release of an additional $300million in funds to help low-income households cope with risingheating bills this winter, and announced four steps to tackle theenergy shortages and high prices in California, Washington andOregon.