Renewed

In a quiet session by most accounts, August natural gas futures pushed higher Wednesday in a renewed round of short-covering following last Friday’s $5.470 low for the move. After reaching a high of $5.830, the prompt month ended up settling Wednesday at $5.782, up 14.9 cents on the day, which brings the week’s total hike to date to 25.9 cents.

A bill has surfaced in the California Senate to prohibit new and renewed coal-fired electricity supply contracts for private and public utilities. SB 1368, sponsored by Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland), is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy, last Thursday said he was baffled by the apparent renewed optimism over the future direction of wholesale power markets in the United States from certain quarters, noting, among other things, the continued oversupply cloud hanging over most parts of the country.

Natural gas storage proposals are alive and well in Arizona, but when one of them is going to turn into an actual project is still anybody’s guess, following last Tuesday’s (Aug. 26) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff conference in Phoenix. FERC staff promised a “report” on the meeting, but nothing more tangible emerged.

Retail choice of power suppliers, a lynch pin of California’s unfulfilled electric industry restructuring, received a renewed boost from California state lawmakers last month with at least two bills submitted in the Assembly aimed at reinvigorating so-called “direct access” options.

The prospect for renewed cold weather in the Midwest and Northeast early this week resulted in across-the-board cash increases ranging from about a nickel to 45 cents Monday. Most gains were between a dime and 30 cents.

ConocoPhillips, operator of the long-running LNG liquefaction plant on the Kenai Peninsula, AK, announced it has renewed its agreement with Bechtel Corp. to collaborate in pursuing worldwide LNG projects.

After rallying to new 15-month highs Monday on renewed hurricane-hype, natural gas futures reversed lower Tuesday on reports from the National Hurricane Center that Isidore will only be able to reach category 1 hurricane status when it slams into the central Gulf Coast late Wednesday or Thursday. That selling was enough to pressure the October contract down to a new one-week low at $3.71. The prompt month closed a few pennies above that level at $3.742, down 23.6 cents for the session.

Buoyed by renewed tropical storm concerns and in sympathy with higher crude oil prices, natural gas futures rebounded modestly Wednesday as traders covered shorts and added to their length ahead of the release of fresh storage data Thursday. However, the day’s gains were cast in doubt by a late sell-off following the market’s failure remain above Friday’s $3.25 low. At $3.193 the October contract was nearly a dime off its $3.29 high, but still up 6.1 for the session. Crude gained 48 cents to close at $28.27. Estimated volume in the gas pit was heavy with an estimated 90,435 contracts changing hands.