Sights

Those searching the skies for storm-driven relief for falling natural gas prices should lower their sights and take into account the extensive earthquake damage to a major Japanese nuclear power plant recently. That’s just what FBR Research is doing in predicting Japan’s increased demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fill its 8,200 MW power gap could cut into supplies for the U.S. market, leading to tightening the domestic natural gas market.

With its sights on a growing southeastern market, Columbia Gulf Transmission, a unit of the NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage system, announced it has reconfigured its key compressor station at Rayne, LA to flow south and East as well as north, at the same time Florida utilities are scrambling to replace plans for new coal generation plants with natural gas-fired power.

Those searching the skies for storm-driven relief for falling natural gas prices should lower their sights and take into account the extensive earthquake damage to a major Japanese nuclear power plant recently. That’s just what FBR Research is doing in predicting Japan’s increased demand for LNG to fill its 8,200 MW power gap could cut into supplies for the U.S. market, leading to tightening the domestic natural gas market.

With its sights on a growing southeastern market, Columbia Gulf Transmission, a unit of the NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage system, announced it has reconfigured its key compressor station at Rayne, LA to flow south and East as well as north, at the same time Florida utilities are scrambling to replace plans for new coal generation plants with natural gas-fired power.

Trading within a thin range, as a number of traders already had their sights set on the long holiday weekend, December natural gas futures on Tuesday dropped back below the psychological $8 level to record a low of $7.910 before closing at $7.988, down 3.1 cents on the day.

Just when it looked like futures had carved out its seasonal bottom and set their sights on higher prices, the June contract on Wednesday — two days short of expiration — broke back below $6 in convincing fashion. While the prompt month didn’t carve out a new low for the move, it recorded a $5.940 low for the day before inching higher to settle at $5.964, down 29.4 cents from Wednesday.

Maverick Oil & Gas has set its sights on the Midcontinent — that’s where the future of natural gas is, CEO V. Ray Harlow said last week in an interview.

Maverick Oil & Gas has set its sights on the Midcontinent — that’s where the future of natural gas is, CEO V. Ray Harlow said in an interview with NGI this week.

Natural gas prices skyrocketed in both the physical and futures markets Monday as it appeared that Tropical Storm Rita would be setting its sights on the heart of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production area later this week following a voyage between the lower end of Florida and Cuba. Producers and drilling contractors were reported to have begun evacuating offshore operations as early as Sunday (see related story).