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Noting that investors tend to view his company’s exploration & production (E&P) unit as a Rockies play, Questar Corp. CEO Keith Rattie said next year the unit will take its capital out of the Rockies and spend it where returns are more attractive, namely northwestern Louisiana and western Oklahoma.

Just when it looked like $10/Mcf gas was firmly in the rear view mirror, May natural gas futures revisited the price level Monday as near-term weather forecasts are looking a little cooler than first thought. The prompt-month contract shot to a high of $10.190 before closing out the regular session at $10.101, up 30.1 cents from Friday’s close.

Despite missing the mark with an earlier bearish projection, analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc. are sticking to their fretful view of summer gas prices based on the strength of production growth from unconventional basins and “an anticipated uptick in summer LNG [liquefied natural gas] imports.”

Despite missing the mark with an earlier bearish projection, analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc. are sticking to their fretful view of summer gas prices based on the strength of production growth from unconventional basins and “an anticipated uptick in summer LNG [liquefied natural gas] imports.”

Recent weather-driven improvements in the U.S. natural gas market notwithstanding, Raymond James & Associates Inc. energy analysts are holding to their contrarian view on U.S. gas prices. A major gas supply increase this summer, brought on by increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, “should translate to gas-on-gas competition” later this year.

Recent weather-driven improvements in the U.S. natural gas market notwithstanding, Raymond James & Associates Inc. energy analysts are holding to their contrarian view on U.S. gas prices. A major gas supply increase this summer, brought on by increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, “should translate to gas-on-gas competition” later this year.

With Thursday’s record storage report withdrawal firmly in the rear-view mirror and a significant warm-up in the East looming for much of February, March natural gas futures went in search of lower prices Friday in a large way. The prompt-month contract put in a low of $7.720 before settling the day at $7.740, down 33.4 cents from Thursday’s close and 21.4 cents lower than the previous Friday’s finish.

As natural gas traders put 2007 firmly in their rear view mirrors, the focus now surrounds what exactly might be in store for prices in 2008. With traders widely agreeing that the days of $2-3/MMBtu are long gone, whether 2008 sees $5-6/MMBtu gas or $7-9/MMBtu gas will be largely influenced by the weather picture and whether increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes find their way to North America’s shores.

Fighting what they view as illegal pipeline charges, a coalition of Southern California’s major electricity generators Monday filed with FERC to get federal regulators to turn back proposed state-sanctioned access fees for interstate shippers wanting to use the Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) backbone transmission system. The fees are scheduled to go into effect in the second half of next year.