Sink

Ample supplies of natural gas and the lack of any real demand allowed cash market points across the United States to sink on Tuesday as traders were unimpressed by the possibility of seeing the first tropical storm enter the Atlantic. While most points declined by less than a dime, some of the largest drops were seen in the Northeast, the Rockies and the West.

Natural gas and crude futures continued to sink on Wednesday as bullish fundamentals for each commodity remained elusive. August natural gas declined by 7.6 cents to close at $3.353 while August crude futures plummeted $2.79 to close at $60.14/bbl.

April natural gas futures values continued to sink Tuesday despite a morning attempt to break back above the psychological $4 level. After running up in impressive fashion to notch a high of $3.956 just after 10 a.m. EDT, momentum stalled and the contract ended up closing out the regular session at $3.840, down 2.5 cents from Monday’s finish.

With its abundant natural gas storage capacity, North America is viewed by many as a sink for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes that can’t be sold in Asia or Europe. But now that new LNG liquefaction capacity is poised to come onstream later this year and next — in the midst of a global economic downturn — the industry is wondering where all the cargoes will go.

With its abundant natural gas storage capacity, North America is viewed by many as a sink for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes that can’t be sold in Asia or Europe. But now that new LNG liquefaction capacity is poised to come onstream later this year and next — in the midst of a global economic downturn — the industry is wondering where all the cargoes will go.

With its projected linepack threatening to sink well below minimum target levels, Pacific Gas & Electric made a belated declaration of a systemwide Stage 2 low-inventory OFO for Wednesday on its California Gas Transmission system and extended the OFO through at least Thursday. The penalty for exceeding a negative daily imbalance tolerance of 5% was set at $1/Dth on both days.

The natural gas potential in British Columbia has been on the radar screens of producers for years, but BP plc appears ready to sink C$1 billion in the region to unlock coalbed methane (CBM) reserves using a process it developed at its successful Wamsutter project in Wyoming.

The natural gas potential in British Columbia has been on the radar screens of producers for years, but BP plc appears ready to sink C$1 billion in the region to unlock coalbed methane (CBM) reserves using a process it developed at its successful Wamsutter project in Wyoming.

Coming off of a couple of hectic trading weeks that saw prompt-month natural gas rally significantly in a short stretch of time only to sink just as quickly, June natural gas futures on Monday traded within a $6.570 to $6.800 range before closing at $6.695, up 14 cents on the day. Monday’s close higher halted a seven-day streak of lower settlements.