Resistance

Proving that resistance up at $7.500 is still very much intact, November natural gas futures on Friday put in a significant retreat. After breaching but failing to settle above $7.500 during the three previous regular trading sessions, the prompt-month contract Friday put in a $7.035 low before finishing the week at $7.041, down 33.3 cents from Thursday but 6.7 cents higher than the previous week’s close.

November natural gas futures tested longstanding resistance at $7.500 once again on Tuesday, but were rebuffed. The prompt-month contract traded between $7.360 and $7.550 before settling at $7.458, up 9.1 cents from Tuesday’s close.

Tuesday’s rebound in natural gas futures prices continued Wednesday morning until running into resistance and reversing lower. The August contract reached a high of $6.840 before settling on the day’s low of $6.600, down 9.9 cents from Tuesday’s close.

It appears that no matter how hard futures bulls try to punch through resistance at $8, they will continue to meet with failure until some other piece of bullish fundamental news — whether it be summer heat or hurricanes — is introduced into the equation. June natural gas futures recorded a $8.110 high Monday before retreating to close at $7.952, up 5.3 cents on the day.

June natural gas futures assaulted the psychological $8 resistance level to no avail for a second consecutive session Friday as market bulls were looking to finally put the $7 to $8 range that futures have recently been stuck in firmly in the rear-view mirror. After recording an $8.100 high on the day, the prompt month retreated lower to record a $7.850 low before settling at $7.938, down almost a penny from Thursday’s close and 10.7 cents higher than the previous week’s finish.

The Bush administration’s proposal to repeal fiscal year 2008 funding for deepwater oil and natural gas research and development (R&D) met with resistance last Wednesday from lawmakers on a House Science subcommittee.

The Bush administration’s proposal to repeal fiscal year 2008 funding for deepwater oil and natural gas research and development (R&D) met with resistance Wednesday from lawmakers on a House Science subcommittee.

After opening significantly lower Wednesday morning at $14.900, January natural gas recorded a low on the day of $14.570 before bouncing higher to find resistance at $15.080. Ultimately, the prompt month ended up settling on the day at $14.679, down 69.9 cents from Tuesday’s close.

Sponsors of multiple new LNG import terminal projects who took the line of least resistance in siting their terminals along the Gulf of Mexico Coast are facing another problem, that of tanker congestion from ships using the same access waterway or port, according to an article in Poten & Partners monthly publication, LNG in World Markets.