Sessions

After breaking below $4 for the second time in the last four regular trading sessions, January natural gas futures on Wednesday rebounded to close at $4.152, up 9.3 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

The Pennsylvania House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday separately voted in lame duck sessions to override Gov. Ed Rendell’s veto of an education bill. However, the severance tax on gas drillers that Rendell and some lawmakers had sought for more than two years was never considered.

Following the ups and downs of the last few regular trading sessions, natural gas futures traders highlighted the uncertainty on direction in the market on Tuesday as the December contract traded in a nearly 20-cent range between $3.750 and $3.928 before closing at $3.870, up 3.8 cents from Monday’s finish.

Three days of local town hall sessions conducted by a FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) that ended last Thursday in Portland, OR, regarding a proposal to build a third LNG receiving terminal in the state drew strong criticism from the project’s backers, who allege that the process is secretive and undemocratic. Separately, a second LNG terminal proponent filed in the Oregon Court of Appeals against the state Land-Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) for rejecting county approvals of its project.

Three days of local town hall sessions conducted by a FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) that end Thursday in Portland regarding a proposal to build a third LNG receiving terminal in Oregon drew strong criticism from the project’s backers, who allege that the process is secretive and undemocratic.

Three days of local town hall sessions conducted by a FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) that end Thursday in Portland regarding a proposal to build a third LNG receiving terminal in Oregon drew strong criticism from the project’s backers, who allege that the process is secretive and undemocratic.

After seeing June futures gain 35.2 cents during the previous two regular trading sessions, bullish natural gas traders were forced to cool their heels on Tuesday as the contract ended up dropping 11 cents to close at $3.615.

After the back-and-forth activity of the last few sessions, natural gas futures traders took a break on Wednesday as the March contract showed little interest in making a move before closing at $4.532, down 1.1 cents from Tuesday.

Separate consumer sessions are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to allow for public input on a $4.6-8.5 million proposed rate decrease in the state for Las Vegas-based Southwest Gas Corp. The decrease in its annual gas cost adjustment process will be greater in the southern half of the state.