Markets

Buyers for weekend natural gas were nowhere to be found Friday, and prices plunged. Only two points followed by NGI escaped the scythe of selling, and no points made it into positive territory.

For the week ended Nov. 4 both weekly natural gas cash prices and futures fell hard and fell often. The decline of 25.6 cents in futures for the week ended Oct. 28, as it turns out, augured not only declines in cash prices, but futures as well.

December natural gas is showing continued weakness before release of weekly storage figures, although some traders see an important market turning point in play. December is expected to open a penny lower at $2.78. Overnight oil market rose.

Natural gas futures gained ground Thursday morning after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a storage injection that was slightly less than what traders and analysts were anticipating.

Additional natural gas storage capacity in the Pacific Northwest to serve electric generation plants is on track to be in service for the winter of 2018-2019, according to NW Natural CEO David Anderson, who updated the project during a 3Q2016 earnings conference call on Wednesday.

Physical natural gas for Friday delivery gained ground in Thursday’s trading as an abrupt cool-down was forecast to bring eastern points off their recent abnormal highs closer to seasonal norms.

December natural gas is set to open 9 cents lower Wednesday morning at $2.81 as updated weather models show ongoing warmth with little likelihood of tapping into any cold air anytime soon. Overnight oil markets fell.

September was the 22nd consecutive month that saw a decline in the Texas Petro Index (TPI), a barometer of upstream oil and natural gas activity in the Lone Star State. No one in the energy patch is going to call this recovery a quick one.

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) on Tuesday formally asked California regulators for approval to reopen the Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage field along the northern fringes of Los Angeles that has been closed since a leak occurred a year ago (see Daily GPI,Feb. 18).