Tack

The National Energy Board (NEB) has foiled — for now — an attempt by TransCanada Corp. to tack a 2011 surcharge onto tolls for its natural gas Mainline between Alberta, central Canada and eastern export points into the United States.

Lending some credibility to Monday’s bullish bounce, October natural gas futures made a higher low on Tuesday but failed to tack on even 1 cent to the advance. The prompt-month contract added four-tenths of a penny to close Tuesday’s regular session at $3.816.

Despite an early dip and a temperature reprieve forecasted by the National Weather Service (NWS), natural gas futures stayed hot Monday, as traders continued to cover shorts following last week’s 14% rally. Saving their best for last, bulls were most active at the close Monday, as they pushed the September contract an additional 4% higher on the day to $3.267, a 11.8-cent gain for the session. Estimated volume was heavy with 105,487 contracts changing hands.

Natural gas futures rallied convincingly through much of the trading session Monday, as traders proved they remain unwilling to bet against winter weather eventually taking its toll on price levels. After holding support in the $2.50-52 area for the third session in a row, the December contract shot higher to notch its highest level in more than a week at $2.815. The prompt month finished just off that level at $2.791, up 15.4 cents for the session.

The cash market began the week by posting small advances Mondayon top of what was considered abnormally strong Friday pricing fora lower-demand weekend. The new increases were small, though,rarely getting above 4 cents, and some points registered as flat.