Snap

Most U.S. land buyers today are foreign companies that want to snap up unconventional prospects, and most are oil-driven. However, with natural gas prices rising, merger and acquisition (M&A) deals are likely this year, especially for operators struggling with costs, according to a PwC energy expert.

A cold start to the winter season could snap natural gas storage inventories lower and send prices higher, but it will take a lot more to bring the overflowing storage situation back to a neutral level, Barclays Capital analysts said late Tuesday.

To encourage shippers to run positive imbalances because of dwindling linepack during an especially severe cold snap in Western Canada, NOVA has reset its imbalance tolerance range to 0/+4.

Forecasters at Weather Insight LP are predicting seasonably cold winter temperatures in the Midwest and Northeast for the next few weeks and the possibility of another arctic cold snap by mid- to late January.

Forecasters at Weather Insight LP are predicting seasonably cold winter temperatures in the Midwest and Northeast for the next few weeks and the possibility of another arctic cold snap by mid- to late January.

Prices rose at nearly all points Tuesday as a cold snap continued in much of North America. The exceptions were major retreats at four Northeast citygates following regional spikes the day before.

Questions surrounding the duration of the nation’s near-term cold snap continued to unravel the recent strength in natural gas futures trading on Tuesday as the December contract dropped 16.6 cents on the day to close at $7.557. The January contract, which will take over prompt-month status in overnight Wednesday trading, shaved 20.4 cents on Tuesday to finish at $7.817.

The cold snap that is developing across much of the eastern U.S. had only limited ability to keep price firmness going Wednesday. Most points fell in deference to forecasts that the eastern cold may be less severe than previously expected and not last much longer than next week (see futures story). A plethora of excess supply issues in the West also contributed to price drops on the day.

January natural gas futures explored lower price levels Monday as the cold snap of weather from the previous week dissipated as forecast, leading traders to focus on the prospect of burdensome supplies at the end of the heating season. After putting in a low of $7.220, the prompt month rebounded to close at $7.427, down 13.4 cents from Friday’s close.