2006

One day after breaking under the $6 mark for the first time, July natural gas futures traded above the important psychological level all day Thursday with the help of a somewhat bullish 77 Bcf storage injection report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The prompt month traded within a $6.010-6.200 range on the day before settling at $6.191, up 21.7 cents on the day.

Constellation Energy Group has, for the time being, ceased FPL Group merger integration activities, Constellation CEO Mayo Shattuck said in a letter to company employees that was included in a May 31 Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

FERC issued a certificate for construction of the Unocal Windy Hill bedded salt gas storage facility, which will be constructed in two phases in Morgan County, CO, and connected to the Cheyenne Plains, Colorado Interstate Gas and Public Service Company of Colorado pipeline systems. When fully completed the storage field will provide 6 Bcf of working gas capacity and 400 MMcf/d of deliverability under market-based rates (see Daily GPI, Nov. 9).

Morgan Stanley, which beefed up its energy trading portfolio last December with the purchase of El Paso Marketing LP (EPM), is moving one of its top investment bankers to Houston from New York to strengthen its global energy group headquartered there, the company said last week.

Following a slightly larger than expected 91 Bcf natural gas injection into storage for the week ended May 12, natural gas front-month futures on Thursday sank below the psychological and technical support level of $6.000 for the first time since Feb. 22, 2005, when the March 2005 contract recorded a low of $5.960. After putting in a $5.860 low for the day and the move, June natural gas closed at $5.997, down 13.2 cents.

Alaska could collect between $1 billion and $2.7 billion per year from a pipeline project to move North Slope gas to the Lower 48, according to terms of a draft contract between Alaska and a trio of major producers, the state said.

A meeting is scheduled for Tuesday to clarify a state superior court judge’s order that an agreement between Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski and major oil companies active in the state be released to the public.

The 15-week-long fraud and conspiracy trial of former Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling is moving into its final days, and the presiding judge said the trial could be in the jury’s hands by May 17. The defense expects to rest its case by Tuesday, and the government is expected to call no more than 10 rebuttal witnesses, who are all expected to briefly testify.

TXU Corp. announced plans Thursday to add 6,400 MW of new coal-fired power generation in Texas, in addition to the 2,200 MW of new coal-fired power plants that it previously announced, and said it will voluntarily cut its current power plant emissions levels by 20%.