Spite

December natural gas futures bounded higher in active trading Thursday in spite of inventory data that placed supplies at record levels. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported working-gas supplies rose a hefty 66 Bcf, well above the mid 50 Bcf expected by the industry.

Citing the U.S. natural gas futures market’s volatility over the past few years in spite of the market’s underlying fundamentals, the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) called on regulators Tuesday to investigate volatility levels and possible manipulation of the market.

In spite of the sizzling heat wave that has descended upon the U.S. this week, natural gas futures on Monday departed from the last week’s upswing to explore lower price levels once again. August natural gas plummeted below the psychological $6 support level in Monday’s regular session to settle at $5.783, down a whopping 56.4 cents from Friday.

In spite of a temporary disruption to natural gas supplies because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Texas Energy Reliability Council (TERC) said Tuesday winter supplies will be adequate — but gas bills are expected to be a lot higher.

For the first time in the last eight quarters, Chesapeake EnergyCorp. of Oklahoma City, OK, turned a profit. The improvement was inspite of decreased production.

Mild softness dominated Monday’s cash trading in spite of a bigdrop on the futures screen. Drops of up to a nickel or so tended tocluster in eastern markets, where late-autumn weather is relativelymild. Meanwhile, flatness prevailed in much of the West as theNational Weather Service is predicting below-normal temperatureslater this week for the Rockies and interior parts of SouthernCalifornia.