True

It’s an old saying: What goes up must come down. That was true in spades in the cash gas market Thursday as sharply rising prices over the previous two days suddenly reversed into major plunges at virtually all points. The below-normal temperatures expected by the weekend in most of North America, which had apparently been instrumental in driving the market higher during the first half of the week, lost their bullish influence after a four-day string of futures increases ended Wednesday with a dive of 16.4 cents.

Prices continued to increase in most of the cash market Tuesday as forecasts of a hot summer were showing early signs of coming true, even with the official start of the season still three weeks away. A pre-holiday advance of 4.7 cents by July futures on Friday also helped strengthen physical numbers.

Although The Weather Channel’s website headline said “Spring has sprung” Thursday morning, it will not officially be true until Saturday. But the continuation of spring-like weather in most of the U.S. was able to ensure that cash market softness would endure. Of course, the previous day’s second consecutive fall of 4.4 cents by April futures was another bearish influence.

Although The Weather Channel’s website headline said “Spring has sprung” Thursday morning, it will not officially be true until Saturday. But the continuation of spring-like weather in most of the U.S. was able to ensure that cash market softness would endure. Of course, the previous day’s second consecutive fall of 4.4 cents by April futures was another bearish influence.

As any real sign of true cold in the near-term weather forecast continued to dissipate Thursday, natural gas futures bears continued to have their way as the December contract probed lower values. Despite a $2.08/bbl increase in December crude on the day, December natural gas ended up dropping 8.7 cents to finish at $6.318.

It’s going on seven years since the bankruptcy of a certain Houston-based energy trading giant, and natural gas marketers have remained true to their renewed faith in physical assets: pipelines and storage. But that’s not to say gas marketing is a sleepy business of merely pushing molecules through pipes and counting dollars.

It’s going on seven years since the bankruptcy of a certain Houston-based energy trading giant, and natural gas marketers have remained true to their renewed faith in physical assets: pipelines and storage. But that’s not to say gas marketing is a sleepy business of merely pushing molecules through pipes and counting dollars.

Natural gas prices are poised to break out of their $6-8 range due to a number of factors and could trade in an $8-10 range for the next two years or so, said Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon.

Natural gas prices are poised to break out of their $6-8 range due to a number of factors and could trade in an $8-10 range for the next two years or so, said Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon.