Staring

North American shale gas, particularly in the United States, has proven an energy cost-saving miracle for consumers who otherwise would be staring at prices three or four times higher, according to Toronto-based TD Group, the holding company for TD Bank.

The U.S. natural gas market is staring down a “summer of extremes” because of record storage inventory, which means production curtailments are coming, but they won’t prevent a repeat of sub-$2.00 spot pricing later this year, according to Bentek Energy LLC.

The U.S. natural gas market is staring down a “summer of extremes” because of record storage inventory, which means production curtailments are coming, but they won’t prevent a repeat of sub-$2.00 spot pricing later this year, according to Bentek Energy LLC.

After absorbing the inconsequential natural gas storage report for the week ended Aug. 25, October natural gas futures traders, staring at nothing but bearish fundamentals, pushed the market lower Thursday, briefly plunging the prompt-month below the psychological $6 price level. October natural gas ended up closing out the day at $6.048, down 24.2 cents.

Is the cash market staring into a price abyss? It may have seemed so to some traders Tuesday as dollar-or-more plunges in several markets (Northeast, Dominion, Michigan citygates, Dawn and Western Canada) led a continued overall cratering of cash numbers. Losses at other points tended to range from small (Rockies and San Juan Basin) to 80-90 cents (Chicago).