Stayed

Prices stayed on an uphill path in most cases Wednesday, but the rate of increase was appreciably lower than the large gains during the first two days of the week and included several losses. Along with the previous day’s loss of 8.4 cents by December futures, cash gas appeared to be starting to acknowledge the moderating weather forecasts for the latter half of this week.

Most points stayed close to flat Tuesday in a cash market that seemed to have trouble deciding how to respond to varying weather and futures influences.

The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has stayed for 60 days the closure of the decision record in an administrative appeal filed by Broadwater Energy LLC and Broadwater Pipeline LLC, which have asked the agency to overturn New York regulators’ opposition to the construction of a proposed floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and associated pipeline to be located in the New York waters of Long Island Sound.

September natural gas futures managed to stage a modest rally, but still stayed within narrow trading parameters Monday. Traders cited tropical activity and forecasts for warm weather as being the bullish culprits, but suggest that this is a “sell rallies” market. September rose 10.1 cents to $8.349 and October gained 9.2 cents to $8.422. September crude oil fell 75 cents to settle at $114.45/bbl.

Undeterred by the stagnated global liquefaction development and liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to the United States drying up, several western LNG project proponents stayed bullish in May about the long-term prospects for North America becoming a major LNG importer. Sempra Energy’s COO repeated this theme at an energy financial conference, and two major LNG proponents in Oregon told NGI they are not worried despite the recent negative indicators.

In a state where the per-capita energy use has stayed essentially flat for more than three decades, California regulators Thursday expanded utility ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs for major private-sector energy utilities. Low Income Energy Efficiency (LIEE) programs along with a one-year pilot program to merge energy and water conservation efforts were approved in separate actions by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Utility credit ratings stayed unchanged in the fourth quarter last year, and they will continue on that track this year, according to a report by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. Its title summarizes the rating agency’s conclusion that all is calm: “Despite Demands for Increased Capital Spending U.S. Utility Ratings Should Remain Stable.”

Utility credit ratings stayed unchanged in the fourth quarter last year, and they will continue on that track this year, according to a report released Friday by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. Its title summarizes the rating agency’s conclusion that all is calm: “Despite Demands for Increased Capital Spending U.S. Utility Ratings Should Remain Stable.”

After working lower in the Sunday overnight Globex trading session, December natural gas futures opened Monday at $7.570 and stayed within a slim 20-cent range for the entire session as milder temperature forecasts and a technical failure to breach the $8 level last week kept the bulls penned in. After putting in a $7.630 high and a $7.430 low for the day, the prompt month ended up closing at $7.490, down 39.4 cents from Friday.