Track

Bullied by sudden and seldom-seen agreement between private and governmental weather forecasting agencies, natural gas futures spiked higher Wednesday evening and Thursday as traders initiated long positions they had liquidated over the past several weeks. Nymex reopened with a bang at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday evening as prices rebounded more than a dime off Tuesday’s $4.789 close.

In a compelling show of proof that it is truly a weather-driven market in winter, natural gas futures gapped higher and shot to new two-week highs Monday as traders returned from the weekend to learn that the rest of November would feature below-normal temperatures for the eastern half of the nation. The December contract finished at $4.263, up 28.2 cents for the session and just off its $4.28 high.

North America’s leading independent producer EnCana Corp. is on track to also become the largest independent gas storage owner and operator on the continent, after announcing plans Thursday to develop a new 40 Bcf natural gas storage facility in southeastern Alberta. The Countess development, once completed, is expected to increase EnCana’s Western Canadian gas storage by almost 40%, totaling approximately 135 Bcf. Once Countess is complete, EnCana will own and operate about 180 Bcf of gas storage capacity across North America, with facilities in Alberta, California and Oklahoma.

While offshore production gradually returned toward normal Friday, traders began paying more attention to regenerated Tropical Storm Lili in the Caribbean Sea and noticing how its course eerily was resembling that of the now-defunct Isidore so far. Their concerns about potential new Gulf of Mexico outages in the coming week translated into price gains of about a nickel to a little more than 20 cents at all but a few scattered points that were flat to slightly lower.

Mammoth equipment again will be used to track down the proverbial elephant-sized natural gas discoveries believed to be located in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea. Devon Canada has told the National Energy Board that it is leaning toward resurrecting one of the biggest exploration systems devised by the late Dome Petroleum Ltd. and its offshore hunting arm, Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd.

Mammoth equipment again will be used to track down the proverbial elephant-sized natural gas discoveries believed to be located in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea. Devon Canada has told the National Energy Board that it is leaning toward resurrecting one of the biggest exploration systems devised by the late Dome Petroleum Ltd. and its offshore hunting arm, Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd.

Reliant Energy Inc. officials said the credit rating downgrade of subsidiary Reliant Resources (RRI) to junk status by Moody’s Investor Service last week would not impact the proposed spin-off of RRI later this summer. The spin-off was approved last Wednesday as a tax-free action by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but must be completed in six months.

Reliant officials said the credit rating downgrade of subsidiary Reliant Resources (RRI) to junk status by Moody’s Investor Service Wednesday would not impact the proposed spin-off of RRI later this summer. The spin-off was approved Wednesday as a tax-free action by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), but must be completed in six months. Reliant said the downgrade was inappropriate but expected given the state of the industry. Reliant shares fell 5% Wednesday to $10.06, and RRI shares tumbled 19% to $4.62.

Dynegy Inc.’s restructuring is on schedule, liquidity is improving, and investors are slowly showing a little more faith. Now, management wants to stabilize the once prosperous marketing and trading unit, and will disregard those who believe the energy merchant sector has been wiped out. “It’s awfully easy to get in a doom-and-gloom mood,” interim CEO Dan Dienstbier said Tuesday. “But I’m not pessimistic in our ability to complete our plan and move forward…Sometimes, you have to go home and say, ‘Hey, get a grip…This is a good, solid company, and we intend to be here when it is all sorted out.'”