Unable

December natural gas futures on Tuesday broke above the psychological $8 level once again Tuesday, but like other recent sessions, the contract was unable to make it stick. After reaching a high of $8.220 on the day, the prompt month trickled lower to close at $7.977, up 8.3 cents.

Unable to capitalize and build on Monday’s 78.5-cent jump in November natural gas futures, traders on Tuesday explored both higher and lower price levels before the contract returned to settle near unchanged. The prompt month settled less than a penny lower at $6.442.

This week’s modest rise in cooling load was unable to counter the negative influences of a prior-day screen drop of 16 cents and continuing warnings of potential severe price weakness down the road due to rapidly dwindling storage injection capacity. The result was cash price declines across the board Tuesday.

Cash prices fell by double-digit amounts at all points Wednesday as cooling demand across the southern U.S. proved unable to withstand the loss of prior-day screen support and mounting bearishness about storage.

A Tuesday gain of 5.1 cents by June natural gas futures proved unable to sustain that day’s cash rally through Wednesday. A few flat to slightly higher points averted a solid front of bearishness, but for the most part cash prices saw generally small declines Wednesday. A slow rise in the South’s air conditioning demand, which had received some credit for the Tuesday rally, was no longer able to offset the continuing lack of heating load in the northern half of the U.S.

Buying for storage injections finally proved unable to offset the retreat of weather-related load Wednesday, and the result was falling cash prices across the board.

Due to cold temperatures forecasted across its system for the Saturday-Monday period, Algonquin said it anticipates being unable to resolve due-shipper imbalances during this time.

Traders had suggestions but were unable to come up with a convincing explanation for why prices rose, often substantially, at most points Thursday after so much preceding bearishness about lack of heating load and a steep screen slide that extended into its third day.

MRT said a System Protection Warning initiated Dec. 31, in which the pipeline said it would be unable to schedule volumes that resulted in a net daily long imbalance position through Tuesday, will be lifted at the start of Wednesday’s gas day.