Technical

Despite bullish technical factors, natural gas futures slipped lower Wednesday as traders considered the possibility that the EIA will report a third straight, record-setting weekly storage injection on Thursday morning.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold an additional technical conference on “Energy Price Discovery and Indices” on Tuesday June 24 to explore “some of the less familiar options such as Self-Regulating Organizations (SROs) and audited data hubs.” The announcement issued late Thursday (AD03-7-001) said representatives of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners will participate.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is tentatively planning to hold an additional technical conference on “Energy Price Discovery and Indices” on Tuesday June 24 to explore “some of the less familiar options such as Self-Regulating Organizations (SROs) and audited data hubs.” An order to that effect was being circulated Thursday for approval by the commissioners.

The emerging first quarter reports show that overall, oil and natural gas production for many North American independents is setting a record pace. However, analysts looking at the deeper picture believe that while earnings are up and production may hit records, overall domestic production continues a slow slide, and no likely near-term solution is at the ready.

With little in the way of fresh fundamental or technical influence to provide direction, the natural gas futures market took the path of least resistance Wednesday in extending to new nine-week lows. Although the series of lower lows and lower highs on the daily bar chart is a very real concern for bulls, they were impressed by the market’s ability to rebound off its mid-morning lows. A intense, albeit brief, sell-off in the afternoon sent prices back beneath the $5.00 mark, but that, too, became a buying opportunity. The May contract finished at $5.065, down 6 cents for the day, but up 13.5 cents from its $4.93 low.

With little in the way of fresh fundamental or technical news, natural gas futures traders played it safe Tuesday as they remained mostly on the sidelines in the abbreviated pre-holiday session. Gas futures trading shut down at 1 p.m. EST Tuesday and was set to re-open with Access trading Wednesday at 7 p.m. What activity there was Tuesday was dominated by locals who sold futures early only to cover those shorts late in the session. The net result was a market basically unchanged for the session. February closed the year at $4.789, down 1.1 cents on the day. Estimated volume was 48,835.

A political trap has been added to the geological, technical and environmental obstacle course faced by Canadian natural gas suppliers. A sore spot in industry relations with native communities is worsening to the point where the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association has warned that “a point of crisis” is at hand.

A political trap has been added to the geological, technical and environmental obstacle course faced by Canadian natural gas suppliers. A sore spot in industry relations with native communities is worsening to the point where the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA) has warned that “a point of crisis” is at hand.

In a market that was already weakened by technical bearishness, natural gas futures were sent spiraling lower Friday on reports that the El Nino weather pattern will bring above-normal temperatures to the central United States this winter.