Slide

Natural gas futures bulls stopped the slide in values on Wednesday as the December contract traded in a tight range before ending the day at $4.503, up 3.6 cents from Tuesday’s close.

President-elect Obama has nixed plans to impose a windfall profits tax on oil and natural gas producers due to the steep slide in energy prices over the past couple of months. But while the incoming administration hath taketh away, Congress may giveth producers additional tax burden in the upcoming year, industry officials in Washington fear.

President-elect Obama has nixed plans to impose a windfall profits tax on oil and natural gas producers due to the steep slide in energy prices over the past couple of months.

The financial meltdown, combined with the steep slide in crude oil prices and growth in domestic production, has been a constant drag on natural gas prices over the past months and relief isn’t expected anytime soon, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook for November.

The financial meltdown, combined with the steep slide in crude oil prices and growth in domestic production, has been a constant drag on natural gas prices over the past month, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook for November. And it says the outlook is not expected to improve anytime soon.

The recent pullback in natural gas prices is just the beginning of a downward slide that could continue for the next six months, according to analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc.

The pullback in natural gas prices seen last week is just the beginning of a downward slide that could continue for the next six months, according to analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc.

Prices continued to slide at most points Thursday under pressure from two previous days of futures weakness, excess supply issues in parts of the West and insufficient cooling demand to keep a floor under overall pricing.

The market extended its slide at most points Tuesday as declining cooling load in the West joined already moderate weather in much of the rest of the U.S. The previous day’s 14-cent drop by June futures contributed to Tuesday’s overall cash bearishness.