Trying

The market faltered at the finish line of trying to achieve a full week of advancing prices at essentially all points. In spite of rising weekend temperatures in the Midwest, the previous day’s dive of 29.9 cents by September futures following a report of an above-expectations storage injection was able to induce double-digit declines at all but one point Friday. The typical weekend fallback of industrial load was an additional, albeit minor, bearish factor.

Still trying to sort out the market’s direction following August futures’ 38.5-cent explosion higher last Thursday, the front-month contract on Monday scouted lower values in the morning before rebounding into the afternoon. At the end of Monday’s regular session, the result was similar to Friday’s noncommittal tenth-of-a-cent gain as August natural gas added two pennies to close at $3.689.

As the state was still trying to overturn a favorable FERC ruling on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project’s conditioned approval, NorthernStar Natural Gas and proponents of a competing Oregon LNG project separately expressed satisfaction Tuesday with other local, state and federal developments. In all, Oregon still has three active LNG terminal proposals — two along the Columbia River and a third, Jordan Cove, at Coos Bay along the southern half of the Oregon coast.

Western Canadian natural gas producers trying to ramp up new gas supplies have been significantly impacted because of escalating finding and development (F&D) costs as well as rising operating costs, according to an analysis by Ziff Energy.

Western Canadian natural gas producers trying to ramp up new gas supplies have been significantly impacted because of escalating finding and development (F&D) costs as well as rising operating costs, according to an analysis by Ziff Energy.

House Democratic leaders are trying to hobble together a broad energy bill that satisfies both the pro-drilling and environmental factions of the House. Details of the measure are expected to be unveiled toward the end of the week, as Democrats and Republicans sharpen their rhetoric in preparation for a fierce battle over the issue of offshore oil and natural gas drilling.

Shippers have withdrawn their complaint accusing Columbia Gas Transmission of unilaterally trying to implement a new and revised master list of interconnection (MLI) points, a move that shippers said would have seriously impaired their ability to schedule primary firm transportation on Columbia’s system.

Even without a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in California, the fuel is growing in use in the large vehicle transportation sector, according to a firm trying to cash in on the trend.

Traders and market-watchers alike on Wednesday were trying to get a handle on exactly what was happening in energy futures as natural gas and crude soared higher once again. April natural gas gained 38.8 cents on the day to close at $9.741, while April crude got back to its recent record-setting ways by adding $5 to close at an all-time high of $104.52/bbl.