Markets

A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania lawmakers has advanced recommendations for supporting five nuclear power plants in the state that face stiff competition in wholesale electricity markets, setting the stage for a continued battle with the natural gas industry and other interests opposed to any kind of government intervention.

A glance at January bidweek natural gas prices failed to reflect a market entering the peak of winter; dramatic losses of more than $1 were common as early-season cold made way for a far milder December, with long-range outlooks not yet conclusive as to when frigid conditions would return. The NGI Bidweek National Avg. tumbled 82.5 cents to $4.315/MMBtu.

Although Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said relatively little about natural gas policy, he has made clear his opposition to the 2013 constitutional energy reform of his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto.

A new year brought a new outlook for natural gas markets Wednesday, with a mild forecast for the first half of January bringing a return to sub-$3 prices as the storage concerns that drove up risk premiums earlier in the heating season appear largely assuaged. Influenced by sagging futures, spot markets struggled through a post-New Year’s hangover, though a few locations in the West gained ahead of cold temperatures and precipitation expected this weekend; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. tumbled 26.5 cents to $2.915/MMBtu.

A new year brought a new outlook for natural gas markets Wednesday, with a mild forecast for the first half of January bringing a return to sub-$3 prices as the storage concerns that drove up risk premiums earlier in the heating season appear largely assuaged. Influenced by sagging futures, spot markets struggled through a post-New Year’s hangover, though a few locations in the West gained ahead of cold temperatures and precipitation expected this weekend; the NGI Spot Gas National Avg. tumbled 26.5 cents to $2.915/MMBtu.

As expected, February natural gas shed some serious holiday weight on Friday as weather data backed off some of the cold that was seen in early January and failed to show with certainty just when truly bone-chilling conditions would return. The Nymex February gas futures contract plunged 24.3 cents to settle at $3.303. March lost 20.5 cents to hit $3.148.

As expected, February natural gas shed some serious holiday weight on Friday as weather data backed off some of the cold that was seen in early January and failed to show with certainty just when truly bone-chilling conditions would return. The Nymex February gas futures contract plunged 24.3 cents to settle at $3.303. March lost 20.5 cents to hit $3.148.

Mild weather and light holiday demand combined to send weekly natural gas prices crashing down for the short Dec. 26-27 trading week, with some of the steepest losses occurring in the usually high-priced Northeast. The NGI weekly National Avg. plunged 42.5 cents to $3.07 for gas flowing through New Year’s Eve.

In its first day in the prompt-month position, the Nymex February gas futures contract was set to open nearly 20 cents lower Friday as frigid air continues to struggle to develop in long-range weather models.