Surprise

Market bulls were hoping for a repeat of last week’s market performance when a surprise 56 Bcf withdrawal figure from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) was about 10 Bcf greater than anticipated and April futures subsequently jumped 22 cents to close over $4 and begin the current trend higher. Bulls were not quite so lucky this week. The EIA reported a 6 Bcf withdrawal for the week ended March 18, which was right in line with traders’ expectations and prices slumped. At the close April futures were 9.1 cents lower at $4.244 and May dropped 8.5 cents to $4.327. May crude oil eased 15 cents to $105.60/bbl.

With North America girding once more to do battle with bone-chilling temperatures and plenty of icy precipitation, higher prices came as a surprise for no one Friday. Multi-dollar leaps reigned again in the Northeast, while the rest of the market saw gains ranging from about a nickel to nearly 30 cents. The smallest increases were concentrated in the Midcontinent and Rockies areas.

WA-based Avista Utilities’s natural gas and electric customers in Idaho on Monday will get a surprise of a small rate increase prompted by the reduction by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of two rate credits consumers have been receiving.

Absentee ballots are yet to be counted, but initial election results show a surprise upset of incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski by Joe Miller, a little-known conservative Tea Party candidate in the Alaska Republican primary Aug. 24. As ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Murkowski has been a leader on the Republican side of the Senate on energy issues.

Absentee ballots are yet to be counted, but it appears that a little-known Tea Party candidate in a surprise upset has seized the Alaska Republican U.S. Senate nomination from incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in last Tuesday’s primary. As ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Murkowski had been in line to be chairman of that powerful committee if the Republicans takeover the Senate in the next election.

Devon Energy Corp.’s decision to sell all of its Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and overseas assets may have come as a surprise to many, but most energy analysts appeared in favor of the plan, calling it a “bold move” that proves the company’s belief in the future of natural gas.

Devon Energy Corp.’s decision to sell all of its Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and overseas assets may have come as a surprise to many, but most energy analysts are in favor of the plan, calling it a “bold move” that proves the company’s belief in the future of natural gas.

With the Gulf of Mexico production outages from Tropical Storm Ida having already been discounted by the cash market Monday, it was no surprise that the remaining tropical depression was no price-booster Tuesday. However, continuing modest cooling trends in several regions, along with the previous day’s December futures increase of 7.5 cents, were enough to keep most of Tuesday’s losses minimal and result in more gains than a day earlier.

It was no surprise to anyone seeing prices fall by major amounts across the board Friday. Despite modest support from the previous day’s screen rise of 5.7 cents, the lack of weather-based demand and the usual weekend decline of industrial load were a considerable depressant on the cash market.