Sweep

The bears made it a clean sweep for the week on Friday as July natural gas futures dropped an additional 21.8 cents to finish at $7.130. The cumulative result of the five consecutive lower closes was a 78.8-cent drop from the previous Friday.

Prices that were flat to about 15 cents higher at several western points averted a clean sweep of cash market softness Monday. Overall, traders responded to prospects for spring-like weather with little heating load in most areas this week, along with Friday’s futures dip of 15.6 cents, by pushing prices anywhere from a couple of pennies to about 45 cents lower at a solid majority of points. Many of the largest losses were concentrated at Midwest and Northeast citygates.

Upticks by as much as about 70 cents at a few Rockies locations averted a clean sweep of declines in the cash market Friday. All other points recorded losses in bowing to the dearth of heating load in most areas. A dime-plus fall by January futures a day earlier and the usual weekend slump of industrial demand further weakened cash quotes.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) said he may challenge current House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) for the position of Republican leader in the wake of the Democratic sweep in the mid-term elections.

Several flat to marginally lower prices (mostly in the West) again prevented the cash market from making it a clean sweep of increases Tuesday. Otherwise, lingering heat, although not anywhere near as bad as in late July and early August, allowed prices to ignore a dime drop in futures the day before and record gains of anywhere from 2-3 cents to nearly 45 cents.

Most points recorded single-digit declines Wednesday, with a few others falling by up to nearly 20 cents. A clean sweep of softening was averted by a few scattered points that ranged from flat to a little more than a dime higher.

A modestly higher Gulf Coast point prevented a clean sweep of continuing price softness Thursday. A lack of weather-related demand, the additional loss of industrial load associated with a long holiday weekend and prior-day screen weakness combined to send prices lower at all other points.

Only a few flat to barely higher western points averted a clean sweep of softening in cash prices Thursday. A small prior-day screen decline joined already-negative weather and storage influences in putting downward pressure on the market.

Only an advance of less than a dime by El Paso’s Bondad pool in San Juan Basin averted an across-the-board sweep of falling prices Friday. Quotes were pressured lower by dwindling heating load in the East, the previous day’s screen drop of 6 cents and the slump in industrial demand that typically accompanies a weekend trading period.