Sink

After a few roller-coaster ups and downs during morning trading, the July natural gas futures contract spent the afternoon on a steady decline, closing down 9.2 cents at $6.115. Notching its fifth consecutive down day, the prompt month once again approached the psychological $6 level as it reached a low on the day of $6.095.

On the heels of winning an epic two-year battle for Canadian environmental approval this summer, the international Georgia Strait Crossing (GSX) sea-floor pipeline project offshore Washington State and British Columbia appears to have foundered on the rocks of higher natural gas prices.

On the heels of winning an epic two-year battle for Canadian environmental approval this summer, the international Georgia Strait Crossing (GSX) sea-floor pipeline project offshore of Washington State and British Columbia appears to have foundered on the rocks of higher natural gas prices.

High-linepack OFOs by both of California’s major transmission/distribution systems (see Transportation Notes) sent price tremors throughout the West Thursday, with nearly all regional points down by as much as about 20 cents. In the East, quotes were mixed fairly closely to either side of flat, although a few Midcontinent pipes fell by as much as a dime or so.

Accelerating the pace of losses notched in Thursday’s disappointing (for bulls) trading session, the natural gas futures market tumbled to new two-month lows Friday as light non-commercial selling went nearly unchecked by either local traders or commercial accounts.

After nearly one-and-a-half years of energy market turmoil since the fall of Enron Corp., NRG Energy became the first merchant power company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday. The Minneapolis-based merchant power subsidiary of Xcel Energy filed its long anticipated voluntary petition for reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Several affiliates, including NRG Power Marketing and NRG Northeast Generating LLC, also filed for protection, but parent company Xcel was not pulled under.

Despite an impressive opening trade, natural gas futures dropped lower Thursday morning in knee-jerk reaction to data showing a healthy 60 Bcf was injected into underground storage facilities last week. At 11:10 a.m. EDT, the September contract was 3.9 cents lower at $2.915, but as it turns out, that was only the beginning. With many traders taking an extended lunch break following an especially trying bidweek, a lone speculative fund trader was able to push prices lower in a second wave of selling. The September contract finished at $2.842, down 11.2 cents for the session.

With few fresh fundamental factors in which to sink their teeth, natural gas traders battled back and forth Friday, producing a wide 15-cent trading range. But despite the spirited session, the August contract finished with an unremarkable 0.1-cent decline and $2.933 settle, leaving plenty of questions still to be answered when trading resumes Monday. At 93,495, estimated volume was moderate to heavy for a Friday in July.

With few fresh fundamental factors in which to sink their teeth, natural gas traders battled back and forth Friday, producing a wide 15-cent trading range. But despite the spirited session, the August contract finished with an unremarkable 0.1-cent decline and $2.933 settle, leaving plenty of questions still to be answered when trading resumes Monday. At 93,495, estimated volume was moderate to heavy for a Friday in July.