During the first week of December, we witnessed nothing short of an explosion in US natural gas prices. The four trading days immediately following the Thanksgiving holiday saw natural gas prices soar 28% to close on Thursday December 4th at $6.34US. Much of the run-up in prices can be attributed to the first cold spell of the year in the US Midwest and East Coast and a larger than expected storage withdrawal figure from the US Energy Information Agency. Look for natural gas prices to hit $10US this winter, with storage withdrawals increasing dramatically as cold weather continues to blast much of the US.While Canada’s economic activity in the third quarter of 2003 was not nearly as robust as that of the US, the Canadian economy remained strong. (It should be noted that the hedonic adjusted figure of 8.2% growth in the US, as reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, is a farce.
Richard W.
