Warm

Natural gas futures kicked off the new week on a low note, slumping alongside warmer trends in weather forecasts, lighter LNG demand and continued robust production levels. At A Glance: Front month sheds 12.8 cents Weather outlook adds warmth Production holds at 100 Bcf/d The April Nymex gas futures contract settled at $2.088/MMBtu, down 12.8…

December natural gas is expected to open 5 cents lower Friday morning at $2.58 as traders assess the likelihood of mild conditions and continued storage builds continuing into December. Overnight oil markets fell.

July natural gas is expected to open 3 cents lower Tuesday morning at $4.62 as longer-dated weather outlooks call for a cool midsection of the country. Overnight oil markets rose.

Natural gas cash prices nationally added on average a nickel in Tuesday’s trading as traders are beginning to see the dynamic of warm weather generating additional power generation requirements from gas-fired plants.

Warm-ups are under way for a swarm of environmental protests if TransCanada Corp. gains industry support to advance its Energy East Pipeline proposal to convert part of its natural gas Mainline to oil service.

An “extremely” warm summer, combined with coal-to-gas switching, has created an “unprecedented” Bcf/day swing in the year/year natural gas supply/demand balance, which should lead to higher prices through the second half of the year, according to energy analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc.

An “extremely” warm summer, combined with coal-to-gas switching, has created an “unprecedented” Bcf/day swing in the year/year natural gas supply/demand balance, which should lead to higher prices through the second half of the year, energy analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said Monday.

Relatively warm weather during winter’s final months and a halting economic upturn continued to keep a lid on natural gas sales during the first quarter of 2012, according to NGI’s 1Q2012 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking, which found a majority of companies reporting sales declining or flat compared with 1Q2011.

Relatively warm weather during winter’s final months and a halting economic upturn continued to keep a lid on natural gas sales during the first quarter of 2012.read more