Remained

Almost the entire cash market fell Tuesday as heating load remained scarce despite a snowstorm that will be bearing down on the central Plains Wednesday. Only a nickel rise by Questar prevented across the board losses.

While temperatures throughout the Midwest and East remained frosty Friday, natural gas futures traders were more concerned with the forecasted warm-up following the weekend. As a result, January futures reached a low of $7.500 before closing at $7.561, down 11 cents on the day and a considerable 86.1 cents lower than the previous week’s settle.

Southern Union shares slipped slightly Thursday but remained near a 52-week high after its largest stockholder, Sandell Asset Management Corp., on Tuesday reiterated its demands for strategic changes or an outright sale of the company and vowed to wage a proxy battle to seek the election of three candidates to Southern Union’s board.

With October futures plummeting to a daily low of $4.07 on expiration day last Wednesday while December futures remained more than $3 higher, Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy decided it was a good time to announce the shut-in of a net 100 MMcf/d of production (125-150 MMcf/d gross), which represents the bulk of the third largest independent producer’s remaining unhedged production.

With October futures plummeting to a daily low of $4.07 on expiration day Wednesday while December futures remained just over $7, Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy decided it was a pretty good time to announce the shut-in of 125-150 MMcf/d (gross), which represents the bulk of the third largest independent producer’s remaining unhedged production.

Most of the cash market was falling again Wednesday as weather and storage fundamentals remained bearish. However, several western points (primarily in the Rockies) were flat to a little more than a quarter higher. The majority of losses ranged from about a nickel to 30 cents or so.

Maintaining Thursday’s momentum, October natural gas futures punched below the psychological $6 level in overnight trading and remained there through the course of Friday’s holiday-shortened session. The prompt month put in a low of $5.820 during the quiet session before settling the week at 1 p.m. EDT at $5.877, down 17.1 cents on the day and $1.467 lower than the previous Friday’s close. The week also saw the September contract go off of the board at $6.816.

Seemingly unaffected by the significant strength in the petroleum sector, natural gas futures on Monday pushed lower as the tropics remained quiet and temperatures began to moderate in the U.S. After trading below the psychological $7 level in Sunday’s overnight session, September natural gas traded within a slim 21-cent range during Monday’s regular session before settling at $6.907, down 33.9 cents on the day.

Most points moved lower again Monday as weather-based demand remained somewhat light in the key northern market areas of the Midwest and Northeast and the screen continued to give off negative vibes. However, a few instances of flat to a little more than a nickel higher numbers in the scorching West averted across the board softening.