Trump

While introducing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to an energy savvy audience in Bismarck, ND, Thursday, Continental Resources Corp. CEO Harold Hamm said he has explored an export deal for Bakken sweet crude going to South Korea.

Newly crowned by North Dakota delegates as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate on Thursday, Donald Trump used the conclusion of the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference (WBPC) in Bismarck as a forum to outline his views on U.S. energy policy.

Newly crowned by North Dakota delegates as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate on Thursday, Donald Trump used the conclusion of the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference (WBPC) in Bismarck as a forum to outline his views on U.S. energy policy.

Moderating weather trends appeared to trump Monday’s 31.7-cent spike by expiring May futures as the primary influence on cash trading for the end of April Tuesday. The result was mixed price movement in the East in which most points moved up or down by a dime or less. However, mild temperatures in the Rockies and cool conditions in California caused major losses in the Rockies market and mostly lower prices in the rest of the West.

Thursday’s 51.6-cent futures slide and the weekend loss of industrial load were able to trump frigid weather either continuing or being reestablished over the weekend as the prevailing influences on Friday’s cash market. The result was flat to lower prices at a large majority of points.

Prices were mixed but mostly moderately higher in the East Friday as a bit of “storm hype” and the previous day’s screen advance managed to trump slightly milder temperatures and the weekend decline in industrial load. Meanwhile western markets, which are essentially immune to tropical storm price impacts, fell at nearly all points except for flat showings by El Paso-Permian and intra-Alberta quotes and a Waha gain of about a quarter.

Concerns about the presence of a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico and petroleum sympathy seemed to trump the release of a bearish natural gas storage report on Thursday, as July natural gas futures ended up settling 4.5 cents higher on the day at $7.045.

There had been a little doubt about whether the approach of a winter storm in the Midwest/Plains region and colder temperatures in the Northeast and parts of the West would be able to overcome the negativity of screen losses totaling about 60 cents over the course of Thursday and Monday and generate a price rally.

The previous-day screen plunge was able to trump growth in heating load as a cash price influence Tuesday. Some points, primarily in the Gulf Coast and Northeast, were flat to moderately higher, but a decided majority of the market opened the December aftermarket weakly in recording losses ranging from about a nickel to 40 cents or so.