Surge

The IntercontinentalExchange continued its upward surge of futures trading activity and commissions on its over-the-counter (OTC) business with new records in both areas in September. It was the ninth consecutive record month for ICE futures. At the same time the rival New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) reported that as of Sept. 29, trading in a number of areas in the first nine months of 2006 had exceeded totals traded in all of 2005.

An overnight and early morning surge in near-month natural gas futures prices Friday lost energy around 11:30 a.m., and the market gave up significant ground in the afternoon to end the day up only 7.8 cents at $7.157 after having reached a high of $7.520. Some sources attributed the afternoon sell-off to rumors that the Caribbean tropical depression might weaken. However, by 5 p.m. EDT the National Hurricane Center had already upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Price movement was mixed Wednesday, but there were a lot more downs than ups as an early-week surge of colder temperatures appeared ready to acknowledge that the official start of spring is just around the corner (next week, actually). Declines not only outnumbered the gains, but also were substantially larger in many cases.

With heating load fading again after a weekend surge that was relatively light outside the Northeast, prices dropped by double-digit amounts at all points Monday. The softness was exacerbated by the previous Friday’s 34.6-cent decline by expiring March futures. And the double whammy of milder weather and a half-dollar-plus dive Monday by the screen in the April contract’s prompt-month debut should serve to keep first-of-March daily prices on the run Tuesday.

As a producer predicted, Monday’s screen plunge of 61.8 cents was able to more than offset this week’s surge of colder weather and induce falling cash prices at all points Tuesday. High comfort levels with storage inventories contributed to the bearishness.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. reported a 50% surge in quarterly profit on Friday, lifted by record commodity prices. Net income rose to $598 million ($2.51/share), from $300 million ($1.58) in 3Q2004. CEO Jim Hackett said the company “hit the middle of our target range” for production, with organic volumes up 8% so far this year.

With cooler weather in the process of replacing the mid-spring heat surge that had allowed prices to ride increased power generation load to higher levels in most cases during the first three days of the week, it was hardly surprising when quotes fell across the board Thursday.

Offshore oil and natural gas production is forecast to grow to 55 MMboe by 2015, up from its current 39 MMboe/d, with nearly all of the surge coming from deepwater, according to a new study by London-based consultant Douglas-Westwood. Offshore gas production will provide 34% of the world’s resources by then, up from its current 28%, while oil production will provide 39%, up from 35%.

Offshore oil and natural gas production is forecast to grow to 55 MMboe by 2015, up from its current 39 MMboe/d, with nearly all of the surge coming from deepwater, according to a new study by London-based consultant Douglas-Westwood. Offshore gas production will provide 34% of the world’s resources by then, up from its current 28%, while oil production will provide 39%, up from 35%.