Straight

The ascent slowed down considerably, but prices extended this week’s rally into a third straight day Wednesday. As on the week’s first two trading days, awesome strength in energy futures and Southern air conditioning load continued to be primary drivers of cash market firmness.

The cash market saw mixed pricing for the third straight day Friday. Call it a tie.

Breaking away from crude for a second straight session, June natural gas futures Wednesday — one day ahead of expiration — traded within a slim 12-cent range before settling at $6.315, down 3.4 cents from Tuesday’s close. July natural gas settled at $6.372, down 1.4 cents.

North American natural gas output may only grow 0.3% this year, but the increase follows three straight years of gas production decline, according to a JP Morgan survey. The 39 publicly traded exploration and production companies surveyed represent 36 Bcf/d, or more than 56%, of total U.S. and Canadian annual gas output.

North American natural gas output may only grow 0.3% this year, but the increase follows three straight years of gas production decline, according to a JP Morgan survey. The 39 publicly traded exploration and production companies surveyed represent 36 Bcf/d, or more than 56%, of total U.S. and Canadian annual gas output.

Noting that this winter will end up being the second worst season in the Pacific Northwest in a series of six straight with below-normal water levels, a group of public- and private-sector energy providers in Portland, OR, Thursday collectively urged retail power customers throughout the region to conserve electricity and shift their use to nonpeak demand times this spring and summer.

The natural gas futures market moved higher for the second-straight session Wednesday as traders looked past warming temperatures in the eastern half of the country and focused on increased violence in the Middle East and surging crude oil prices. The February contract closed up 6.1 cents at $6.402 on its first day of trading as the prompt month. January expired Tuesday at $6.213.

After bouncing off the $6.67 area for the second straight session, November natural gas futures ended by settling Friday at $6.709, down 9.4 cents. The remaining four months in the winter strip also closed lower, but by much smaller margins.

Despite the fact that natural gas production from the Gulf of Mexico is still only a little more than 80% of normal following Hurricane Ivan’s wrath more than a week ago, October natural gas futures continued lower on Friday in a big way. The prompt month dropped 17.2 cents to close at $5.392.