Surprising

Natural gas prices made modest gains in most North American markets Thursday, surprising most sources polled by NGI, who pointed to continued bearish fundamental factors and a futures market that showed little sign of rebound.

After a 21.8-cent futures drop a day earlier that was largely based on a below-expectations storage withdrawal report, it was hardly surprising to see prices drop across the board Friday, even with colder temperatures returning to some areas during the weekend.

After a 21.8-cent futures drop a day earlier that was largely based on a below-expectations storage withdrawal report, it was hardly surprising to see prices drop across the board Friday, even with colder temperatures returning to some areas during the weekend.

Considering forecasts of weekend cooling trends in the Midwest and Rockies, it was hardly surprising that Thursday’s 24.3-cent dive by August futures was able to induce losses at all points in the cash market Friday. Naturally, the typical weekend drop of industrial load also played a part.

It wasn’t very surprising that the limited amount of early-spring cooling load across the southern U.S. and rapidly vanishing heating demand in the upper Northeast, which had produced small gains at most points Wednesday, were unable to sustain that firmness Thursday. Losses occurred at a large majority of points, although price movement continued to be minor as few declines exceeded a dime.

It was not surprising when prices resumed climbing at nearly all points Friday following a partial interruption Thursday of last week’s overall cash market strength (see Daily GPI, Jan. 11). After all, cold fronts were moving into the South and Northeast Friday, and a new siege of frigid weather close to rivaling the one following New Year’s Day would be under way in most of the U.S. and Canada by the end of the weekend.

Challenged by lower energy prices and production, ExxonMobil Corp. overcame the odds and finessed its way to a surprising 10% gain in 1Q2007 net profit from a year ago.

Some of the newest U.S. natural gas wells are depleting at a rate of 50% a year, which is “not a terribly surprising thing,” Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. Chairman Mark Siegel said last week. What is a surprise, he said, is the furious expansion in domestic gas drilling — nearly 32,500 wells were drilled in 2006, compared with less than 17,500 just five years ago.

Some of the newest U.S. natural gas wells are depleting at a rate of 50% a year, which is “not a terribly surprising thing,” Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. Chairman Mark Siegel said Tuesday. What is a surprise, he said, is the furious expansion in domestic gas drilling — nearly 32,500 wells were drilled in 2006, compared with less than 17,500 just five years ago.