Surprised

As U.S. producers transform their asset base exclusively from natural gas to a more balanced one that includes oil and liquids, investors “might be surprised by what happens to the gas curve in the years ahead,” Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon said Monday.

Pennsylvania hunters will likely find a changed woods this hunting season and may be surprised by the level of disturbance and activity on public lands in the north-central, northeastern and southwestern regions of the state, according to a wildlife expert in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

The natural gas industry was surprised Wednesday when President Obama cited natural gas as an issue that both Republicans and Democrats could find common ground on in the 112th Congress.

It likely surprised more than one trader to see the extent of recovery Monday from the major losses at all points on the preceding Friday, especially since near-term weather influences continued to be mostly benign. However, some may have eyed forecasts getting colder in several areas toward the end of the week. The return of industrial load from weekend recess also was a modest bullish factor.

The January natural gas futures contract, in its first regular session as the front month, Wednesday surprised most traders by shooting nearly 40 cents higher despite ample gas inventories and the lack of any real winter chill on the immediate horizon. Word that 2 Bcf had been injected into underground storage for the week ending Nov. 20 only added fuel to the bulls’ fire.

Traders who cut away early to start the Memorial Day weekend might be surprised when they get back as June natural gas futures dropped significantly lower Friday, recording a low of $7.525 before settling at $7.640, down 4.1 cents from Thursday and 30.4 cents lower than the previous Friday’s close.

Natural gas bulls were pleasantly surprised Wednesday as futures prices were able to hold on to opening gains. After opening at $6.950 the April contract shot as high as $7.130 before selling appeared to knock the closing price down to $6.953, up a healthy $0.085 on the day. The May contract added $0.092 to end at $7.103, and May crude oil futures fell $0.57 to $61.77/bbl.

With bearish weather and storage outlooks little changed Wednesday from the day before, some traders were a bit surprised to see Tuesday’s hemorrhaging of spot prices come to a halt so soon for the most part. But they cited further buying for storage injections and the probability of power generation maintenance shifting load to gas peaking units as reasons for the rebounds.

In a move that surprised some traders because of continuing weak fundamentals, most of the cash market ranged from flat to as much as about a dime higher Wednesday. A few scattered points saw mild softening limited to a nickel or less.