Unable

Natural gas futures eased slightly in Tuesday’s trading as market bulls were unable to sustain their buying enthusiasm and traders noted an abrupt intraday tumble. Trade and commercial accounts may now be willing to lock in favorable prices. April natural gas futures fell 2.4 cents to $10 and May dropped 1.1 cents to $10.064. Crude oil continued to rampage higher, trading as high as $109.05 before settling at $108.75, a record.

The market remained unable to find enough heating load to keep prices from dropping further at most points Thursday. Anecdotal evidence from one buyer suggested that increased use of storage to supplant new purchases of spot gas by utilities and end-users is part of the reason that prices have been weak for the most part over the past two days in the face of very cold weather returning to many regions. Futures weakness from the day before continued to be a drag on cash numbers.

Still unable to enjoy some early holiday cheer, a second Oregon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project was left waiting Thursday, but with some positive expectations it will clear another local hurdle in its permitting processes before Christmas. The Jordan Cove Energy Project LP at Coos Bay hopes to wrap up a second key local permit by Wednesday, its project manager told NGI late Thursday.

Prices were unable to sustain the upward momentum of Monday’s spikes for the most part and softened at most points Tuesday. Although temperatures were due to continue dropping Wednesday in the Northeast, moderate warming trends will be under way in the Midwest and South. Also, intermediate-term weather forecasts appeared to be less bullish Tuesday than they had been Monday.

Unable to capitalize on the recent momentum higher and break out of the long-term $7-8 trading range, natural gas futures bulls found no follow-through buying for their cause Tuesday. After trading between $7.680 and $7.855, June natural gas ended up closing at $7.718, down 14.5 cents from Monday’s close.

Unable to effectively hedge commodity prices or secure adequate equity for capital expenditures, few exploration and production (E&P) companies in the early 1980s found success with the then-emerging master limited partnership (MLP) sector. Today, however, a significant pool of E&P assets appears to be trending toward the sector, a group of energy experts said last week.

Unable to effectively hedge commodity prices or secure adequate equity for capital expenditures, few exploration and production (E&P) companies in the early 1980s found success with the then-emerging master limited partnership (MLP) sector. Today, however, E&Ps are rediscovering the MLP market in a big way, and a significant pool of assets appears to be trending toward the sector, a group of energy experts said Thursday.

Unable to sell its partially completed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Point Tupper, NS, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has taken a $111 million write-off and will mothball the Bear Head LNG Corp. project.

Adding more credibility to the view that the psychological $8 level could be a top, bullish natural gas futures traders on Friday were unable to push the March contract above $7.920 during a quiet, week-ending trading session. The prompt month traded a slim 11-cent range from $7.810 to $7.920 before calling it a week at $7.827, down 4.4 cents on the day but 35.1 cents higher than the previous Friday’s close.