Upper

Temperatures in most of the U.S. outside the Upper Plains will be peaking around 90 degrees or higher Tuesday, and cash gas prices responded to the increase in power generation load by recording double-digit price increases at most points Monday. A couple of western points rose less than a dime, and the Rockies saw small losses of up to nearly 15 cents.

The advance of harsh winter weather into the central/upper Plains and Midwest, with the South and Northeast being targeted over the next couple of days, pushed prices higher at nearly all points Wednesday. The expiry spike of 32 cents a day earlier by the December futures contract contributed extra support to the cash market in trading for flows on the last day of November.

Breaching the upper limits of its recent trading range, December natural gas futures recorded a new high of $8.380 Tuesday afternoon before going off of the board at $8.318, up 32 cents. The Canadian cold air mass over the Midwest and West that is expected to make its way into the East by late in the week also kept other contracts strong. The January natural gas futures contract climbed 20.2 cents on the day to close at $8.559.

The National Hurricane Center said it was possible for Tropical Storm Alberto to become the season’s first hurricane before making landfall on the upper Gulf Coast side of the Florida Peninsula early Tuesday morning, but the storm had minimal impact on Gulf producers and the gas futures market Monday. The July contract inched up 5.2 cents to settle at $6.224.

With heat levels rising significantly across the southern half of the U.S. and to a lesser extent in the Lower Midwest and Central/Upper Plains, the increase in power generation loads were enough to push prices higher at all points Monday despite futures weakness on the preceding Friday.

Upper Midwest combination utility NorthWestern Corp. reached an agreement with the creditors committee of its former communications services subsidiary Netexit Inc., formerly Expanets, on a bankruptcy liquidation plan that will provide NorthWestern with an initial payment of $20 million and will set aside another $35.9 million to pay creditors with any remainder going to Northwestern.

Tired of exploring the upper end of the range during the prior two sessions only to fail, natural gas futures traders opted to take the low road instead on Friday. Trading within a minimalist $6.02 to $6.115 range, March natural gas futures were actually able to break the two-day streak of settling relatively unchanged. The prompt month settled at $6.093, down 6.7 cents on the session and less than a cent lower than the previous week’s $6.096 close.

Continuing to test its upper price limits due to the fact that cold has finally come to the East, January natural gas futures climbed higher Tuesday, settling near the day’s high.

Continuing to test its upper price limits due to the fact that cold has finally come to the East, January natural gas futures climbed higher Tuesday, settling near the day’s high.