A super opportunity Two years ago, coal producer Peabody Energy was banking on seeing the industry in the midst of a huge supercycle. Instead, it faces intense regulatory scrutiny, plummeting prices, and slack demand for metallurgical coal. Weakness in the competing natural gas sector, where inventories remain well above five-year averages and prices at multiyear lows, has also been a big factor. Analysts are looking at coal demand in China to be soft, too, as production outpaces demand. According to the Energy Information Administration, coal consumption will drop this year to levels not seen since 1996.