Somewhat

Though somewhat unremarkable in that it featured a 151 Bcf withdrawal that was within market expectations, the weekly storage report released last Thursday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) drew attention from industry analysts and data crunchers alike because it was a calendar anomaly — it was the 53rd weekly storage report for 2004.

The cash market stanched its bleeding somewhat as the July aftermarket got launched Wednesday, in the sense that most price declines were smaller than the day before and a few scattered points were flat to higher. The highly temperature-sensitive Cheyenne Hub and CIG even managed genuinely substantial rebounds of 20-25 cents or so due to Rockies-area weather starting to heat up.

Despite receiving a somewhat bullish natural gas storage report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the July natural gas futures contract was no match for bearish news from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which helped move both natural gas and crude futures lower for a second consecutive day.

Wednesday’s screen spike obviously trumped somewhat bland weather fundamentals in pushing cash prices strongly higher Thursday. However, a combination of reversals in Nymex’s energy futures complex Thursday and the typical drop in weekend industrial load is a sure bet to spur market softness Friday, several sources agreed.

Looking somewhat like a toddlers’ rollercoaster Wednesday, the April natural gas futures contract rode a number of small inclines and declines during the day, peaking at $5.475 and bottoming out at $5.380, but finishing the day at $5.429, down 10.1 cents from Tuesday.

Obscured somewhat by the multi-billion-dollar PG&E bankruptcy, the utility’s updated natural gas transmission/storage market structure (Gas Accord 2) was approved last month by California regulators, keeping in place most of the same unbundled framework of the past five years.

Obscured somewhat by the multi-billion-dollar PG&E bankruptcy, the utility’s updated natural gas transmission/storage market structure (Gas Accord 2) was approved last month by state regulators, keeping in place pretty much the same unbundled framework of the past five years.

In somewhat of an irony, Enron Corp. last week filed a complaint against six of its former banks and investment institutions, claiming that they gave the bankrupt company bad financial advice, which in turn contributed to its demise in late 2001.

In somewhat of an irony, Enron Corp. this week filed a complaint against six of its former banks and investment institutions, claiming that they gave the bankrupt company bad financial advice, which in turn contributed to its demise in late 2001.