Roared

Blasts of frigid cold that have roared across the country over the last few weeks culminated in new natural gas and electric usage records across the country, including in Con Edison’s New York City centralized service area and a new peak-day delivery record on Williams’ 10,500-mile Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco), which runs from South Texas to New York.

December blizzards in the Plains, Mid-Atlantic and New England and the wave of icy air that roared out of Canada and across the United States as far south as the Gulf Coast last week are the precursors to what could be the worst winter in 25 years, according to AccuWeather.com Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi.

Riding the bullish momentum that was introduced Tuesday, November natural gas futures roared higher on expiration Wednesday, putting in a high of $6.580 before going off the board at $6.469, up 28.3 cents from Tuesday’s close. Picking up the mantle as front-month contract, December futures added 36.2 cents on the day to finish at $6.778.

Hurricane Ike caused the largest blackout in Texas history when it roared ashore at Galveston Sept. 14, and it went on to knock out power to millions from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Nearly two million customers, most in the Houston and Galveston area, remained powerless on Friday, and the utilities serving the region warned that some customers could be without electricity into October.

An estimated 8.29 Bcf/d of natural was reported to have been shut in when Hurricane Katrina roared across the production facilities off the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts late Sunday and early Monday, according to report issued by Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) offices in Washington, DC and its temporary office in Houston.

Natural gas bears roared back to life Monday and put to rest any doubt about who is in charge of the market. It took less than an hour for these sellers to rescind Friday’s 24-cent advance, but that was not enough. By the time the dust had settled and the last trade tabulated, the numbers for Monday’s trading session were impressive. With its $6.762 settle, the December contract had fallen 35.3 cents from Friday’s close and down nearly $2.80 from its late October peak.

Natural gas bears roared back to life Monday and put to rest any doubt about who is in charge of the market. It took less than an hour for these sellers to rescind Friday’s 24-cent advance, but that was not enough. By the time the dust had settled and the last trade tabulated, the numbers for Monday’s trading session were impressive. With its $6.762 settle, the December contract had fallen 35.3 cents from Friday’s close and down nearly $2.80 from its late October peak.

After dipping to new three-day lows early in the session, natural gas futures roared back to life yesterday as traders hedged for the possibility that Hurricane Lili could knock out a portion of Gulf Coast production for more than just a few days. After covering a wide, 24.5-cent trading swath, the November contract closed at $4.16 yesterday, up 9.3 cents for the session and just 4 pennies off its high on the day. At 102,851, estimated volume was light, considering the expanded trading range.

After tumbling to a new two-week low Tuesday, natural gasfutures roared back to life Thursday and Friday as traders wereforeced to cover their newly acquired short positions. With thatthe February contract was able to take back a dollar of lastTuesday’s record-breaking $1.411 sell-off, finishing the week at$9.261.