Weighs

With commercial traders reticent to make a move before the weekend and many local speculators leaving the trading pit early for their annual trip to the Kentucky Derby, natural gas futures moved quietly lower Friday to cap off a negative week of trading activity. With its $5.255 close, the June contract finished 1.2 cents lower for the session and down almost 30 cents for the week.

Talking to local news media in the state, a Nevada state senator earlier this week took on the case of Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources and one of its two electric utilities, Nevada Power Co., which is the target of a local ballot measure on public power and a unsolicited bid by a local public-sector water agency that counts as one of its largest customers.

Questar Pipeline Co. announced late last week that it is holding an open season to determine the feasibility of expanding its Northern System to provide additional natural gas deliveries to Kern River Gas Transmission.

Questar Pipeline Co. announced it is holding an open season to determine the feasibility of expanding its Northern System to provide additional natural gas deliveries to Kern River Gas Transmission.

Following a topsy-turvy span of trading in which prices fell Thursday as quickly as they rose Wednesday, natural gas futures sputtered sideways to slightly higher Friday as traders gently covered shorts ahead of the weekend and the Monday expiration of the August contract. August closed 3.4 cents higher at $2.936. For the second day in a row, volume in the gas pit was heavy with an estimated 171,719 contracts changing hands.

Following a topsy-turvy span of trading in which prices fell Thursday as quickly as they rose Wednesday, natural gas futures sputtered sideways to slightly higher Friday as traders gently covered shorts ahead of the weekend and the Monday expiration of the August contract. August closed 3.4 cents higher at $2.936. For the second day in a row, volume in the gas pit was heavy with an estimated 171,719 contracts changing hands.

Despite the volatility the natural gas market has experienced over the last few weeks, Anadarko CEO Robert J. Allison, Jr. assured attendees at the tenth annual John S. Herold Pacesetters Energy Conference in Greenwich, CT, that his company has not made any major changes in its business plan. He added that just like they always do, “gas markets will self-correct.”

Despite the volatility the natural gas market has experienced over the last few weeks, Anadarko CEO Robert J. Allison, Jr. assured attendees at the tenth annual Herold Pacesetters Energy Conference in Greenwich, CT that his company has not made any major changes in its business plan. He added that just like they always do, “Gas markets will self-correct.”

Natural gas futures traders might as well sleep in on Wednesday mornings. Or maybe they already are…. Wednesdays have taken on a sort of split personality, in which a barren desert suddenly gives way to a deluge of trading activity when fresh storage data is released at 2 p.m (EDT). That was the case yesterday as futures opened unchanged only to drift lazily sideways for 4.5 hours. Then, when a larger-than-expected storage figure was released, the market tumbled 13 cents in just five minutes. July rebounded modestly in the final 65 minutes of trading to close at $3.801, down 9.1 cents on the day, but up 7.1 cents from its low for the session.