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With the significantly colder weather that had largely been absent from the forecast for Tuesday due to show up Wednesday in several regions, along with a little added boost from the previous day’s 9.4-cent futures advance, cash prices recorded gains at a large majority of locations Tuesday.

December natural gas futures registered a modest decline as traders acknowledged that the market was awaiting weather data that might show a continuation of the cold weather currently pummeling the East.

Twenty years ago, when the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) welcomed the energy industry to its first trade show in Denver, projected recoverable natural gas resources in the Rocky Mountains were estimated at around 100 Tcf. Today the Rockies hold estimated proved reserves of around 87 Tcf and a remaining recoverable potential of 228 Tcf, but as industry veterans noted Thursday, nobody yet knows the true size and nature of the gas potential.

Twenty years ago, when the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) welcomed the energy industry to its first trade show in Denver, projected recoverable natural gas resources in the Rocky Mountains were estimated at around 100 Tcf. Today the Rockies hold estimated proved reserves of around 87 Tcf and a remaining recoverable potential of 228 Tcf, but as industry veterans noted Thursday, nobody yet knows the true size and nature of the gas potential.

Preliminary data show that Oregon faces a 30% hike in retail natural gas charges when state regulators determine annual gas cost adjustments, effective in November, a spokesperson for the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) told NGI Monday.

Avista warned that high natural gas prices will show up in customer rates this fall when annual purchased gas cost adjustments (PGA) are filed with the public utility commissions in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. CEO David Emery’s grin was wide enough to show through his company’s first-quarter earnings conference call last Thursday, not because of the quarterly results, which were off compared to the same quarter in 2007, but because of the pending sale of seven independent natural gas-fired generation plants in four western states that collectively fetched $840 million from a joint venture of two asset management firms.

With weather forecasts into March beginning to show some signs of thaw, March natural gas futures on expiration Wednesday probed lower for a majority of the session. The contract reached a low of $8.880 before going off of the board at $8.930, down 27.6 cents from Tuesday’s finish. The April contract, which will now take over as front-month contract, finished Wednesday at $9.060, down 19.2 cents.

Southwestern Energy Co. wowed energy analysts and investors with a 56% gain in quarterly output from its core Fayetteville Shale play, which the company said followed its use of longer lateral wells and more slick fracture stimulations.