Soft

What had been only a moderately soft market Wednesday with mostly single-digit losses and some western gains tossed into the mix appeared to be turning into a near-rout Thursday as fairly large double-digit losses extended across the board. A continuing dearth of weather-based demand — in either the form of cooling or heating — was abetted by a prior-day futures decline of 3.4 cents in quashing cash quotes.

Soft gas demand due to a weak economy and mild weather is driving the industry through what could be a belly-busting storage injection season with record inventories quite possible. Whatever pain is to come for producers will emanate first from full caverns in the producing region, analysts at Barclays Capital said last Tuesday.

Soft gas demand due to a weak economy and mild weather is driving the industry through what could be a belly-busting storage injection season with record inventories quite possible. Whatever pain is to come for producers will emanate first from full caverns in the producing region, analysts at Barclays Capital said Tuesday.

The three-day run higher by the January futures contract came to an end Thursday as a soft inventory report caused traders to rethink their bullish posture.

Canadian exporters suffered a US$1.7 billion revenue hit as marginal volume growth failed to make up for soft prices during the first three quarters of the current natural gas trading year, records of the National Energy Board (NEB) show.

Canadian exporters suffered a US$1.7 billion revenue hit as marginal volume growth failed to make up for soft prices during the first three quarters of the current natural gas trading year, records of the National Energy Board (NEB) show.

International traffic in Canadian natural gas held firm through spring, postponing a widely forecast time of reckoning when soft prices and weakened drilling are expected to erode the trade, National Energy Board records show.

IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), an electronic energy and soft commodity exchange, said Tuesday it has completed its previously announced acquisition of WCE Holdings Inc., parent of the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange Inc. (WCE), an agricultural commodity futures and options exchange in Canada.

International traffic in Canadian natural gas held firm through spring, postponing a widely forecast time of reckoning when soft prices and weakened drilling are expected to erode the trade, National Energy Board records show.