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Breaking the string of triple-digit weekly storage refills at four, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Thursday morning announced a 97 Bcf injection for the week ending June 27. Natural gas futures prices, which were already in the process of a cautious short-covering rally, used the smaller-than-expected refill as a springboard to higher levels. But after a quick spike to an intra-day high at $5.36, the August contract was hit with a steady barrage of selling late Thursday morning and early afternoon. August closed mixed at $5.226, 2.7 cents higher in Thursday’s holiday-abbreviated trading session.

Continuing a string of agreements to up its financial stake in strategically located U.S. oil and gas assets, junior independent Energas Resources Inc. on Tuesday announced it had secured an option agreement from the Thomas Dorough Trust to explore 4,320 acres in the Wind River Basin of Wyoming. Under the agreement, Energas will be able to earn the acreage by drilling certain portions within the next two years.

It was a close call, but the natural gas futures market managed to keep its string of gains alive Wednesday as the June contract edged higher for the sixth straight session. Although Wednesday’s 0.6-cent advance may seem pedestrian next to recent gains of 18 and 33 cents, the session was anything but a bore as prices soared to a new, 11-week high at $6.44 and gyrated within a wide, 31-cent trading range. June closed in the upper half that range at $6.314.

In another in a string of volatile trading sessions, natural gas futures climbed higher early in the session Tuesday in sympathy with crude oil and in anticipation of a potentially bullish storage report Thursday, only to be dumped lower in the afternoon as traders realize that winter is starting to release its stranglehold on the market.

In yet another in the string of topsy-turvy trading sessions, natural gas futures sunk lower Monday, as traders took profits following Friday’s advance and liquidated positions ahead of the year-end close. The selling was most concentrated just before the 1 p.m. EST closing bell, demoting the February 2002 contract to its lowest point since April 1999. At $2.570, February was down 20.4 cents for the session and just off its 32 month low at $2.545.

With winter finally arriving after a string of eight weeks of warmer than normal weather, gas demand is on the rise but probably not enough to put a dent in the storage surplus compared to levels last year, according to experts. Withdrawals during this period last year were substantial and continue to be difficult to match.

Pressured by the release of another in a string of bearish weather forecasts and in sympathy with losses seen in the nearby crude oil pit, natural gas futures plumbed new three-week lows Monday, as traders continued to liquidate longs acquired during the month of October. The December contract never recovered from its 7-cent gap-lower open and finished with a 19.2-cent loss at $2.733.

Buoyed by double-digit gains in the cash market, along with the release of another in a string of bullish long-range weather outlooks, natural gas futures erupted higher Tuesday, as traders pressured the market to new four-week highs. The November contract gapped a dime above Monday’s high, and never looked back yesterday, finishing with an impressive 21.4-cent advance and $2.592 closing price. Trading volume was high, with an estimated 90,649 contracts changing hands.

In the continuing string of unpaid power bills that sits at the heart of California’s lingering electricity crisis, the state association of independent power producers last Wednesday asked the state transmission grid operator, Cal-ISO, to pay up. The nonprofit public benefits organization said that it is “working on it.”