Spreading

Triple-digit plunges continued at Northeast citygates Wednesday, and unlike a day earlier they were joined by declines spreading across the board. Several sections of the market were due to get a bit more reprieve Thursday from frigid conditions previously, although lows in the teens and 20s were still in the forecast from the Rockies through the Midwest, and sub-zero readings were expected in Alberta and parts of the Upper Plains.

A modest majority of points recorded price increases in triple digits Monday as frigid weather continued spreading into Canada and most of the northern half of the U.S. All of the cash market racked up big gains, getting extra support from the 39.7-cent pre-Thanksgiving spike by January futures.

Even with hotter weather spreading into the Northeast, prices continued to fall at all but a few points Wednesday. The previous day’s futures drop of 5.4 cents and growing concerns about soaring storage inventories portending limited options for placing spot gas down the road were believed to be the market’s chief bearish influences.

Low temperatures around freezing or lower were due to keep spreading Friday in the Midwest, Midcontinent, Rockies and Western Canada, and that kept prices rising in most of the cash market Thursday. The recent firmness will be hard-pressed to sustain itself Friday, though, after storage inventories were reported to be already rising prior to the traditional end of the withdrawal season.

A spreading revival of enthusiasm for Arctic natural gas prospects has lured an elder statesman of the Canadian resource hunt out of retirement to broadcast reminders of bearish lessons learned the hard way during the last burst of polar drilling.

A spreading revival of enthusiasm for Arctic natural gas prospects has lured an elder statesman of the Canadian resource hunt out of retirement to broadcast reminders of bearish lessons learned the hard way during the last burst of polar drilling.

With an arctic air mass spreading its thermometer level-dropping impact into the Northeast and most of the South, prices were flat to about 80 cents higher at most points Wednesday. However, only the Northeast saw major increases; elsewhere, gains were limited to about a quarter and were mostly in single digits.

With spreading above-normal temperatures starting to push daily highs into the 80s across much of the East and in some inland parts of the West and past 100 in the desert Southwest, the resultant increase in power generation load had prices rallying at most points Tuesday. The return of industrial demand from a holiday weekend and a reduction of excess supply issues in the West also contributed to the overall bullishness.

Prices rose across the board Wednesday in response to spreading cold weather and added support from a 25.3-cent futures gain the day before.