Reversed

In a complete about-face, FERC on Wednesday reversed an earlier order in which it accepted a complaint alleging that Williams’ Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. and its gathering affiliate, Williams Field Services Co. (WFS), had engaged in “collusive behavior” by pushing gathering rates for service on a portion of the North Padre Island gathering facilities to monopolistic levels and violated requirements of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA).

A steady trend since Monday toward greater price softness was partially reversed Thursday. Most points were essentially flat or recorded small gains or losses of less than a nickel; the more volatile ones ranged from 20 cents higher to about 15 cents lower.

Curtis Wagner, FERC’s chief judge, last week reversed course from a decision he reached in late June and said that he will certify to the full Commission a settlement between Avista and FERC staff aimed at resolving allegations that the power company engaged in trading strategies designed to manipulate California’s energy markets in 2000-2001.

Natural gas futures reversed direction again on Wednesday — this time to the upside — on short covering by local traders ahead of Thursday’s release of fresh storage data. With Wednesday’s 6-cent advance, the July futures contract remained unable to register a back-to-back daily increase or decline for more than a week. It closed at $5.757, close to the middle of its recent $5.46-6.12 trading range.

Cash prices reversed direction again Thursday for the third time in as many days. Sources cited ongoing storage demand, the previous day’s screen rally and the growing impact of hot weather in the South as factors in across-the-board gains ranging from about a nickel to nearly 30 cents. Most increases tended to be between a dime and a quarter.

After spiking to a new, all-time high Tuesday, natural gas futures reversed lower Wednesday as spread- and options-related selling pressured March futures lower on their expiration day. March ended its tenure as prompt month at $9.133, down 44.4 cents for the session and $2.766 off its $11.899 high notched just 30 hours prior.

The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday reversed a $3.5 billion judgment against ExxonMobil Corp. regarding a dispute over Mobile Bay, AL royalties. The case will be sent to a lower court for retrial, ExxonMobil said.

Ending a four-day, 21-cent rally, natural gas futures reversed lower Thursday as weak long traders headed for the exits amid bearish weather news. After opening at Wednesday’s high at $2.40, the prompt month took on the trajectory of a safe pushed out of a 10 story building, falling 14 cents in the first 45 minutes of trading yesterday. From that point forward, February checked to either side of $2.26 on a heavy volume of 123,632 contracts. February closed at $2.254, down 14 cents from Wednesday’s settle.

Last week’s yo-yo market pattern continued into the weekend asprices reversed direction once again Friday, falling between 15 and50 cents at nearly all points. California remained the contrarymarket with larger declines at the border and Malin and the day’srare uptick at the PG&E citygate.