Watchers

The last 10 years have seen mostly above-normal hurricane seasons in the Atlantic and this year won’t be any different, the U.S. government’s weather watchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said last Monday.

The last 10 years have seen mostly above-normal hurricane seasons in the Atlantic and this year won’t be any different, the U.S. government’s weather watchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Monday.

May natural gas futures on Wednesday continued to consolidate as market watchers were still unsure of the contract’s next move. After seesawing a bit, the prompt month ended up settling at $7.558, down 1.4 cents on the session.

With the natural gas futures market resembling a game of limbo over the past few sessions, some market watchers are now asking “How low can you go.” Continuing the sloping trend from last week, December natural gas futures shed another 35.4 cents to settle at $7.60.

With the natural gas futures market resembling a game of limbo over the past few sessions, some market watchers are now asking “How low can you go.” Continuing the sloping trend from last week, December natural gas futures shed another 35.4 cents to settle at $7.60.

Despite closing almost 2 cents up on the day, some market-watchers considered Tuesday a loss for August natural gas futures as morning trading levels as high as $5.96 could not be sustained. The prompt month tapped out at $5.805 on the downside in afternoon trading before settling at $5.837, up 1.9 cents on the day.

With the April futures contract terminating with a whimper instead of a wail, market-watchers were forced to turn their attention Monday to other things such as the current natural gas storage situation, including estimates for this week’s report. The April futures contract closed its doors for good Monday at $5.365, down only three cents on the day. Of more significance, the contract’s trading range for the session was incredibly tight at just 5.5 cents.

As LNG projects continue to be proposed, industry-watchers wait to see which projects will stick and which ones will fade away. As opposed to the civil unrest in Bolivia which has cut off an international consortium-planned LNG facility there, Hunt Oil Co.’s Peruvian project appears to be sailing smooth seas and could begin operation in late 2007, early 2008, building an export/import link between the west coasts of North and South America.

As LNG projects continue to be proposed, industry-watchers wait to see which projects will stick and which ones will fade away. As opposed to the civil unrest in Bolivia which has cut off an international consortium-planned LNG facility there, Hunt Oil Co.’s Peruvian project appears to be sailing smooth seas and could begin operation in late 2007, early 2008, building an export/import link between the west coasts of North and South America.