Settled

With freezing overnight lows having settled themselves into the Midwest and Northeast at least temporarily and even some Southern cities dipping into the 30s, most points were able to rebound Monday from the previous Friday’s across the board losses.

EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. settled a lawsuit brought by a New Mexico man who was burned in an explosion at the Lisbon Valley natural gas plant in 2004 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 30). Details were to be confidential. Following six days of testimony in a jury trial in U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell’s courtroom in Salt Lake City, the EnCana subsidiary on Aug. 27 was found 100% liable for Michael Melton’s injuries. The jury was determining compensatory damages and a possible punitive judgment against EnCana when the private settlement was reached late Thursday. When Melton was injured in 2004, the plant was owned by Denver-based Tom Brown Inc. (TBI), which was bought by Calgary-based EnCana Corp. (see Daily GPI, April 16, 2004). TBI’s operations were merged with those of EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) in 2005.

Following a strong launch of the May aftermarket on Monday, things had settled down a lot Tuesday. Price movement was mixed but leaned heavily toward the downside. Growing cooling load across the southern half of the U.S. was starting to flag slightly in some sections, proving to be insufficient at this point to sustain price firmness, while mild weather meant very little weather-based load at all in northern market areas.

With the cold regime that has settled into much of the U.S. and Canada appearing more and more set for an extended stay, cash prices continued to rise Tuesday. The advance was across the board for a second day and derived extra support from Monday’s futures spike of 43.3 cents.

After running higher to record a $6.450 high on Thursday, February natural gas futures came off in the afternoon and settled at $6.162, nearly unchanged from Wednesday’s $6.163 close. Going forward, most weather forecasts for the heavy gas demand East continue to see warmer-than-normal temperatures, while AccuWeather meteorologist Joe Bastardi sees a bit of a cold snap hitting next week.

Two former energy traders settled last week with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over charges that they reported false trades to gas industry index publishers in an attempt to manipulate gas prices.

Two former energy traders have settled with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over charges that they reported false trades to gas industry index publishers in an attempt to manipulate gas prices.

Dodging the controversial issue of a windfall profits tax, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives settled for jawboning energy companies to invest in energy infrastructure by building more refining capacity and the Alaska natural gas pipeline.

Choosing to travel their own road Wednesday, July natural gas futures dismissed August crude’s near $1.00 decline and settled 3.2 cents lower at $7.442. Trading was relatively quiet as the prompt month kept within a thin range from $7.39 to $7.53 and traders noted that there did not seem to be any motivation in either direction.