Small

As new technology has increased output and because of its small carbon footprint, natural gas will play a bigger role in the world’s energy consumption as long as government policies give the go-ahead to take over more demand, Royal Dutch Shell plc CEO Peter Voser said Monday.

Prices continued to rise by mostly small amounts Tuesday as temperatures tended to increase slightly in most areas and the market got some extra support from a 10.7-cent increase by October futures from a day earlier.

The modest Midwest warming trend that had helped boost most of the market slightly a day earlier proved to be short-lived, and so did the small rally as prices fell at a majority of locations Thursday.

Intense heat in many areas finally appeared to be reviving the spot market, but only to a small degree, Thursday. The previous day’s minor rebound of 2.9 cents by September futures also helped in raising cash prices slightly at most points.

Most locations saw small price increases Thursday based on a gain of nearly a dime by futures a day earlier and forecasts of high, though slightly receding, temperatures in much of the U.S.

Prices made small gains at most points Tuesday, nearly all of them in the East. Hot weather had lessened a bit since late last week but was still considerable enough with high forecasts on either side of 90 in the South, Northeast and parts of the Midwest and Rockies to keep power generation load fairly strong. The previous day’s 3.2-cent futures also contributed to cash strength.

The Stripper Well Consortium (SWC), which has transferred technology developed for major energy companies to small, independent oil and gas operators for nine years, was extended to 2015 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Changes in natural gas market dynamics are affecting forward power prices and a relatively small snowpack in the Northwest is influencing both gas and power prices, according to FERC’s Summer 2010 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment, which was released Thursday.

Changes in natural gas market dynamics are affecting forward power prices and a relatively small snowpack in the Northwest is influencing both gas and power prices, according to FERC’s Summer 2010 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment, which was released Thursday.