Articles tagged Rockies

October Nymex natural gas futures fluctuated between gains and losses Tuesday before turning lower as profit taking, hurricane risks and middling demand choked off some of the rocket fuel powering the previous three days’ nearly 33.0-cent run higher.

Prompt month natural gas futures fell for a second day Wednesday as the market stayed focused on shifting autumn supply/demand balances, sidestepping a broad rally sparked by the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) aggressive start to an interest rate-cutting cycle.

• Natural gas futures essentially treading water as bearish week of trading draws to close
• After starting week around $1.800/MMBtu, March Nymex contract trading at $1.610 as of 2:25 p.m. ET, up 2.9 cents
• Gelber & Associates analysts see “relatively little volatility and market participation” ahead of President’s Day weekend, as “traders have likely squared away positions ahead of time to mitigate some price risk” 
• Per NatGasWeather, gains “attributed to oversold conditions and profit taking ahead of the weekend break”
• Weather outlook “still leans bearish” overall “despite a frosty weather system into the U.S. this weekend,” according to NatGasWeather
• Cash prices pop along East Coast with brief wintry blast expected; Northeast Regional Avg. up 48.0 cents to $2.395, Southeast Regional Avg. up 17.0 cents to $1.710, per NGI’s Midday Price Alert
• Variable forecast for South and East, though “any colder conditions are not long lasting,” Maxar meteorologist Bradley Harvey said Friday via Enelyst
• “Below normal temperatures are forecast for these areas this weekend following a clipper system bringing moderate snow” to Midwest then Mid-Atlantic Friday, according to Harvey
• Spot prices under pressure out West, heavy selling in Southern California on mild temps; discounts upstream in Rockies, West Texas, per NGI’s Midday Price Alert
• El Paso Natural Gas (EPNG) declared force majeure on Line 1903, cutting capacity by 464,000 Dth/d to 50,000 Dth/d through CADIZSOU constraint
• Impacted volumes reroutable through EPNG’s DUTCH F constraint, according to Wood Mackenzie’s Kevin Ong

An anticipated barrage of Arctic air could usher in one more blast of winter weather this month, eating into underground inventories of natural gas and providing an injection of upward momentum into the market when price bulls need it the most.

Natural gas production in the Rockies, like the country overall, is at vigorous levels this fall even as demand from western markets eases. The result: stout supplies in storage and soft prices.

Steady supplies of natural gas – and more infrastructure to deliver it – are vital for the United States to meet steady domestic consumption and elevated global demand for LNG through this decade and beyond. 

Trading action along the Nymex natural gas futures curve was like watching paint dry on Monday, with the prompt month swinging in a tight range given no major changes to fundamentals. The September Nymex gas futures contract settled at $2.795/MMBtu, up 2.5 cents from Friday’s close. October futures tacked on 1.6 cents to $2.898. 

Colorado regulators have unanimously approved natural gas and oil emissions standards, increasing oversight on the state’s exploration and production (E&P) companies.

Private exploration and production (E&P) operator Poco Holdco LLC received Project Canary’s highest possible environmental assessment rating for most of its Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin operations in Colorado. 

Oil and gas executives in the Rockies and Midcontinent have downwardly revised their expectations for Henry Hub natural gas prices over the near term, according to a new survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.