Shock

Natural gas futures traders received a late-week shock Thursday morning as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that a larger-than-expected 104 Bcf was injected into underground natural gas storage for the week ended July 11. The build, which even fell outside the industry’s wide 71-102 Bcf expectation range, allowed the August futures contract to crash below $11 to close at $10.537, down a stunning 86.1 cents from Wednesday’s close.

Echoing a price shock warning that many utilities — electric and gas — were issuing across the country last week, Syracuse, NY-based Niagara Mohawk said higher commodity prices could result in its natural gas customers seeing a 35% increase in heating bills this winter.

Global energy “demand shock,” compounded by tight oil supplies, constraints on U.S. natural gas production and geopolitical turmoil, has put the United States’ energy situation at a critical juncture, according to Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA).

Global energy “demand shock,” compounded by tight oil supplies, constraints on U.S. natural gas production and geopolitical turmoil, has put the United States’ energy situation at a critical juncture, according to Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA).

While the shock of the probable demise of Enron monopolized conversation in all trading rooms (see related story), swing prices continued to shoot higher Wednesday as winter storms raged through much of the nation’s midsection and parts of the West. Cold temperatures were prevalent almost everywhere except in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

In addition to the shock surrounding the latest on the unraveling of market-maker Enron, natural gas traders and market watchers were rocked again Wednesday by another in a string of bearish reports by the American Gas Association. The group announced that 12 Bcf was injected into underground storage facilities for the week ending Nov. 23, bringing gas levels to a record 3,144 Bcf. In a fitting twist, December natural gas futures spiraled lower on the news, surpassing previous lows reached early in 1999, just weeks after storage levels had crested a new peak (at that time) of 3,127 Bcf.

It failed to shock anyone when June-ending prices fell fairly hard at nearly all points. Virtually all traders did Thursday deals for flow through Saturday, eliminating the hassles of split nomination periods over a June/July bridging weekend.

The major explosion on the El Paso Natural Gas system in NewMexico last August was a “major shock” to gas supplies in theSouthwest and placed an “extreme burden” on the region’s pipelinenetwork. Although gas prices in southern California soaredtemporarily, “widespread shortages” were avoided due to a”combination of market adjustments,” such as reliance on gas fromstorage, alternate transportation routing and fuel switching, theEnergy Information Administration said last week.

California’s governor weighed in more forcefully last week inthe continuing summer electricity rate shock plaguing the southernend of the state and calling into question the future of thestate’s four-year electric industry restructuring. A virtual flurryof state activity is expected this week at four different stateagencies and at the state legislature, which returns from a summerrecess.