Surprise

It shouldn’t surprise anyone when an energy industry CEO paying more than $20 billion to grow the oil and gas holdings of his company is not a fan of ethanol as a motor fuel.

In a surprise move, the White House has sent the Senate the nominations of a Colorado attorney and a Washington, DC energy executive to fill the two vacant seats at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If confirmed by the Senate, this would be the first time since December 2003 that the five-member Commission will be operating at full capacity.

With winter-like weather occupying or being hinted at in most areas, there was no surprise when all points were united in strong advances Wednesday. The previous day’s screen uptick of about a dime provided a bit of extra support for cash prices.

It was no surprise that nearly all points were in rebound mode Monday from weekend softening. But it was somewhat surprising that unlike last week, when Northeast citygates tended to lead price climbs higher and also the subsequent retreats, it was western points (Rockies/Pacific Northwest, Western Canada, California and the Southwest basins) which were in the driver’s seat for this new burst of cash bullishness.

With cold weather permeating the East, it was no surprise that the Energy Information Administration’s natural gas storage report for the week ended Jan. 25 revealed a 107 Bcf withdrawal, far greater than the prior week’s 88 Bcf pull. However, the withdrawal was on the low end of the range of industry estimates and slightly less than the 109 Bcf five-year average and the 115 Bcf pull for the same week last year.

To no one’s surprise, prices extended their losing streak since midweek into the weekend with across-the-board declines. Below normal temperatures in most areas outside the West Coast and Southwest, storage-related futures weakness the day before, and the continuing recovery of Gulf of Mexico production from storm shut-ins made Friday’s softening a foregone conclusion, sources said.

To no one’s surprise, swing prices for the last day of June kept falling Tuesday. The usual suspects were at work: overall mild weather with daily highs unable to struggle higher than the 80s virtually everywhere outside the desert Southwest and Florida, and energy futures weakness the day before that remained in force Tuesday.

Barring a surprise outbreak of increases in productivity, Canadian natural-gas exports to the United States are headed for a second straight year of decline.

Barring a surprise outbreak of increases in productivity, Canadian natural-gas exports to the United States are headed for a second straight year of slowing down.