Markets

December natural gas is set to open 8 cents lower Monday morning at $2.24 as continued warm temperatures are forecast in important population centers for the next five days. Overnight oil markets fell.

Sempra Energy’s U.S. Gas & Power (USG&P) unit has told FERC that it won’t pursue a fourth cavern at its Mississippi Hub storage facility in Simpson County, MS, asking the agency to vacate a pending application for expansion of the 22.3 Bcf facility.

For the second consecutive month, U.S. dry natural gas production in August was the highest for any month since the Energy Information Administration (EIA) began reporting gas production data, reaching 2.37 Tcf (76.5 Bcf/d), the agency said.

Following Friday’s sharply lower physical natural gas prices, deliveries for Tuesday proved to be a mixed affair.

Demand for natural gas liquids transport/export capacity continues to grow, according to Enterprise Products Partners LP, which saw its third quarter results aided by increased ethane transport volumes.

For the second straight week, forwards markets moved lower for the period between Oct. 23 and Oct. 29 even after a bullish surprise storage report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Western Canadian natural gas suppliers expect to keep on losing sales to rival U.S. merchants in Ontario, Quebec and the northeastern United States.

Until Friday, spot gas traded for next-day delivery at most points did not have to suffer the indignity of trading below $2, as November futures did prior to expiration on Tuesday. That all changed with natural gas traded for the weekend and Monday.

December natural gas is expected to open 7 cents lower Friday morning at $2.19 as the technical picture continues to deteriorate and winter cold has yet to appear in forecasts. Overnight oil markets rose.