Surprising

After losing nearly a dollar in value in a week, dropping to $6.689 Thursday from $7.651 on Wednesday, Aug. 9, near-month gas futures staged a somewhat surprising reversal on Friday on technical factors and in response to an increase in tropical activity. The September contract soared to a daily high of $7.090 just after 1 p.m. before backtracking to end the day up only 4.2 cents at $6.731.

In a somewhat surprising move attributable chiefly to the screen’s Thursday afternoon turnaround into positive territory (and aided by some colder weekend weather in parts of the Midwest, Northeast and South), cash prices saw hefty increases at all points Friday.

In a surprising move that could stall several proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import projects in the Bahamas, FPL Group subsidiary Florida Power & Light Co. said last Wednesday that it has called off its request for proposals (RFP) for 15-25-year agreements for LNG supply to serve its Florida utility operations.

A comprehensive look at the first quarter financial results of 25 major natural gas and oil producers by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveals a surprising 44% increase in net income to a grand total of $20.4 billion, with sharply higher results in every major sector of operations despite declines in domestic and foreign gas and oil production.

In a surprising move that could stall several proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import projects in the Bahamas, FPL Group subsidiary Florida Power & Light Co. said Wednesday that it has called off its request for proposals (RFP) for 15-25-year agreements for LNG supply to serve its Florida utility operations.

A comprehensive look at the first quarter financial results of 25 major natural gas and oil producers by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveals a surprising 44% increase in net income to a grand total of $20.4 billion, with sharply higher results in every major sector of operations despite declines in domestic and foreign gas and oil production.

Surprising most of the industry, which was expecting at least one more withdrawal, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday morning that 10 Bcf was injected into underground natural gas storage for the week ended April 1. After an eventful day that saw two distinct plunges lower, May natural gas futures settled at $7.366, down 19.2 cents from Wednesday.

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.

Natural gas futures reached new three-week lows Thursday morning on the surprising news that 188 Bcf was pulled from underground storage last week, well below consensus estimates focused on a 200-230 Bcf draw. The March contract was dealt the biggest blow by the news, dropping 22.7 cents for the session to finish at $6.149.