Relied

Support from hot weather remained generally meager for the end of August, but the cash market relied on a prior-day rise of 7.9 cents by October futures and forecasts of a potential hurricane entering the Gulf of Mexico production area to rally by often-substantial amounts at all points Wednesday.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA), academia, industry and analysts on Tuesday continued to question why the New York Times (NYT) relied on misleading, outdated information — and failed to contact key resources — before publishing damning articles about the U.S. shale gas industry.

Even counting higher estimated emissions of methane (CH4) from shale gas production activities, natural gas-fired power generation still beats coal-fired power by a wide margin when it comes to overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to a new study published by the gas-friendly American Clean Skies Foundation (ACSF).

The cash market relied on a continuance of moderate cooling load in the South — and not much else — in realizing small gains at most points Tuesday. The overall advance defied the previous day’s 13.7-cent drop by July futures and the fact that north of the southern third of the U.S. weather-based demand is almost nonexistent.

Calgary-based EnCana Corp. relied on hedging to keep its 4Q2008 profits flat year/year, but the CEO said Thursday that sustained lower natural gas prices will require more cost cutting if the economic environment does not improve.

Calgary-based EnCana Corp. relied on hedging to keep its 4Q2008 profits flat year/year, but the CEO said Thursday that sustained lower natural gas prices will require more cost cutting if the economic environment does not improve.

Cash prices again relied on the continuing spread of cold weather and prior-day screen support to keep the overall market moving upward Friday. However, unlike the solid advances recorded in the first two days of December aftermarket trading, several flat to lower points — primarily in the West — surfaced in quotes for weekend flows.

Despite starting to lose heating load again, the cash market relied on residual support from Friday’s 16.3-cent screen gain and strong demand from power generators to rack up increases in double digits at all points Monday. As usual, the post-weekend restoration of industrial load also was a factor.

The cash market relied on new cold fronts forecast for Tuesday in the Northeast and South, along with predictions of temperatures well below early-March norms in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes sections of the Midwest, to push prices higher at nearly all points Monday. Delayed support from Friday’s futures gain of nearly 9 cents and the restoration of industrial load from its usual weekend slump aided the climb.