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Appalachian Basin player Consol Energy Inc. may be known as a coal producer, but the company’s natural gas profile is growing in prominence.

Still stinging from the nationalization last month of 11 idled rigs in Venezuela, contract driller Helmerich & Payne Inc. looked on the bright side Thursday, announcing plans to build nine new rigs for U.S. deployment along with its third fiscal quarter results, which took a hefty hit from a Venezuela-related charge.

Forecasts of peak temperatures remained on either side of 90 in the South, Northeast and Midwest, and they were even destined to reach the mid to upper 90s Tuesday in the Rockies. Cash traders shrugged their shoulders, however, and instead noted the previous Friday’s 6.3-cent drop by August futures and the weekend fade of any tropical storm threat to Gulf of Mexico output in sending prices slightly lower at most locations Monday.

Forecasts of high temperatures on either side of 90 in many regions and even greater in the South, Midcontinent and parts of the West revived the spot market by generally small amounts Thursday. A tropical wave was still too close to West Africa to be a factor, but the previous day’s 4.8-cent futures drop had essentially no impact as a negative guide for cash prices.

On one side of the country, ExxonMobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson Thursday cast doubts on whether natural gas stands much of a chance to penetrate the U.S. transportation market (see Daily GPI, March 12). Meanwhile, at the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston, auto and energy executives mostly expressed pessimism about how big the market might become.

On one side of the country, ExxonMobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson Thursday cast doubts on whether natural gas stands much of a chance to penetrate the U.S. transportation market (see Daily GPI, March 12). Meanwhile, at the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston, auto and energy executives mostly expressed pessimism about how big the market might become.

The cash market wavered on either side of flat Tuesday, seemingly torn between forecasts of colder temperatures in such key market areas as the Midwest and South versus the previous day’s prompt-month futures break below $5 for the first time since December combined with ample storage inventories remaining as the final month of the traditional withdrawal season nears.

The cash market wavered on either side of flat Tuesday, seemingly torn between forecasts of colder temperatures in such key market areas as the Midwest and South versus the previous day’s prompt-month futures break below $5 for the first time since December combined with ample storage inventories remaining as the final month of the traditional withdrawal season nears.

The North American rig count has picked up in recent weeks, but the gains have been nearly all to the oil side, and natural gas isn’t likely to see any sustainable improvement before storage injection season is complete, according to energy analysts.