2004

Gas futures prices soared 38.9 cents Friday to $5.108 and most cash prices rose 5-15 cents on average in response to preliminary indications of Gulf Coast region infrastructure damage from Hurricane Ivan, which as of Friday had forced the shut-in of a cumulative 23 Bcf of Gulf of Mexico gas production, according to the Minerals Management Service (MMS). Late Friday MMS reported four production platforms missing and presumed sunk, others damaged, three pipeline leaks and five drilling units adrift.

ONEOK Inc. on Thursday said it entered into an agreement to purchase Northern Plains Natural Gas Co. from a joint venture of Southern Union Co. and a General Electric unit for $175 million, conditioned on that partnership’s success in completing the acquisition of Enron Corp.’s pipeline unit, CrossCountry Energy LLC, which includes Northern Plains.

Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) reported that its compressor station 12 in Munson, FL, was damaged by Ivan’s high winds Thursday morning and as a result the pipeline will have about 500,000 Dth/d less firm transportation capacity into the market area available on Friday. However, the news came too late for a cash market reaction. Spot prices on FGT were the biggest decliners Thursday in a surprisingly weak marketplace nationwide.

Most natural gas distributors and intrastate gas pipelines said they would be opposed to any FERC requirement calling for owners and operators of gas storage facilities to electronically post their storage inventory levels from the prior day. They contend that the public disclosure of their storage data on a daily basis would leave them and their customers vulnerable to higher prices.

With 19,000 MW of gas-fired power generation planned for construction over the next decade in Florida, the state could be in store for a California-like power crisis because of natural gas supply limitations, consultants at Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) said in their Monthly Gas Update.

Most natural gas distributors and intrastate gas pipelines said they would be opposed to any FERC requirement calling for owners and operators of gas storage facilities to electronically post their storage inventory levels from the prior day. They contend that the public disclosure of their storage data on a daily basis would leave them and their customers vulnerable to higher prices.

Cash prices were up sharply across the board Wednesday with increases of 20-35 cents in the Gulf Coast and Northeast, about a quarter on average in the Midcontinent and 15-20 cents in the West. But the futures market tanked 15.9 cents to $4.631 after peaking at $4.88 just prior to a bearish afternoon update on Hurricane Ivan by the National Hurricane Center.

With 19,000 MW of gas-fired power generation planned for construction over the next decade in Florida, the state could be in store for a California-like power crisis because of natural gas supply limitations, consultants at Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) said in their Monthly Gas Update.

Calling the proposal a “repackaged” version of one that FERC shot down last year, a group of producers has urged the Commission to reject a bid by Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line to spin off part of its South Texas mainline and lateral facilities to an unaffiliated Texas intrastate pipeline, Dallas-based Crosstex CCNG Transmission Ltd.