Remained

Former Enron Corp. treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. remained steady in his last day of testimony Monday, as defense lawyers for Enron founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling attempted to distance their clients from any wrongdoing.

With at least a couple of traders starting to express boredom over a stagnant market, moderate softness remained in command at most points Tuesday. Just as they have almost every day so far in the new year, some prices swam against the general tide: several instances of flat to up to more than a quarter higher numbers were seen in the Gulf Coast, Midcontinent/Midwest and West.

The trap door remained wide open Tuesday as January natural gas continued to plummet, carving out a low of $10.960 in afternoon trade before closing at $11.022, down $1.261 for the day. The move brings the contract’s three-day decline to $3.249.

As moderating temperature forecasts remained unconfirmed, January natural gas futures took the chance to test their surroundings. After putting in a $13.380 low in morning trade, the prompt month rebounded in the afternoon, jumping more than 40 cents in the final hour of trading to close at $14.043, up 42 cents from Friday’s close.

Oil and natural gas leasing on the coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) remained in the Senate’s $39 billion budget reconciliation package late Thursday, surviving several challenges by Democrats throughout the day. Its approval was all but assured as the Senate moved to vote out the budget measure.

Natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico remained at around 20% all week, with the Minerals Management Service (MMS) reporting Friday production outages equalling 79.4% — with shut-in production totaling 7.94 Bcf/d. The Sabine Pipe Line LLC’s force majeure also continued in effect for the Henry Hub gas delivery point, but some progress was reported.

Following on the prescient forecast two months ago that natural gas prices could hit $10/Mcf by the end of the summer, Raymond James & Associates this week remained bullish on prices rising in the next few months, improving on favorable year-over-year weather comparisons and a shrinking surplus of stored gas.

Prices remained mixed in most of the market Thursday, with a majority of points either flat or moving only small amounts up or down. The much-cooled-down Northeast citygates were an exception in recording double-digit losses across the board.

In its final report on Tropical Storm Arlene, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Tuesday said there remained one platform that was still evacuated in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), along with 59 MMcf/d of shut-in natural gas and 5,696 bbl/d of crude oil. Only four producers reported losses to the MMS.