Sessions

After regrouping the previous two sessions as August natural gas futures recorded a gain of 3.3 cents and a drop of 6 cents, respectively, the bears were on the prowl again on Tuesday as the prompt-month contract had 44.3 cents sliced from its value. The contract dipped below $10 on Tuesday before closing at $10.067 while August crude also got back to its recent bearish ways by dropping $3.09 to finish at $127.95/bbl.

After banging on the psychological $8 resistance price level over the previous five sessions to no avail, the sixth attempt proved to be the charm as February natural gas futures punched upward to a $8.180 high before closing Wednesday’s regular session at $8.099, good for a 13.2-cent gain on the day.

After failing to break through psychological support at $7 over the previous three sessions, natural gas futures on Thursday decided to check out the upside for a change as the January contract reached a high of $7.425 before closing out the day at $7.330, up 14.5 cents from Wednesday’s finish.

December natural gas futures on Tuesday broke above the psychological $8 level once again Tuesday, but like other recent sessions, the contract was unable to make it stick. After reaching a high of $8.220 on the day, the prompt month trickled lower to close at $7.977, up 8.3 cents.

Following a couple of back-and-forth trading sessions, prompt-month natural gas futures on Wednesday exploded 8.5% higher as colder than normal temperatures took hold in a number of regions around the country. After topping out at $7.750 on the day, November futures — which expire Friday — settled at $7.693, up 60.2 cents on the day.

As the federal energy department hosting a third in a series of public education sessions on liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Los Angeles Thursday, the sponsor of the proposed Clearwater Port offshore LNG terminal project on the Southern California coast announced it now has “significant competitive advantages” from its merger into NorthernStar Natural Gas, Inc. and is prepared to go forward.

March natural gas broke its streak of eight consecutive regular sessions lower on Thursday, testing the $7 level again before rallying higher to close at $7.134, up 6.8 cents on the day. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday that 102 Bcf was withdrawn from underground stores for the week ended Feb. 10. The number, which was closer to historical analogs than other recent weekly withdrawals, was still short of the industry’s expectations.

Breaking its range of the last 12 sessions, February natural gas futures opened Thursday at $8 and worked itself even lower in anticipation of yet another bearish natural gas storage withdrawal report. Following almost no reaction to the 81 Bcf pull from storage, prompt-month natural gas pushed back above $8 to settle at $8.229, down 23.1 cents from Wednesday’s close.

After being stuck within an $11.030 to $12.070 range for 11 consecutive regular sessions, December natural gas broke to the upside Wednesday as a cold front reached the East and petroleum futures prices recorded significant gains. December natural gas ended up settling at $12.329, up 76.6 cents from Tuesday’s close.