Ability

Spikes of a quarter or more were common at eastern points Thursday morning, as the cold weather that had failed to avert general softness on Wednesday recovered its price-supportive powers in a big way. The shivering Northeast led the way with gains of up to nearly 70 cents at Transco Zone 6 non-NY, although New England points were comparatively somewhat weak. Western upticks tended to be smaller than those in the East, although such markets as Waha, Permian Basin, San Juan Basin and Sumas rose by about 30 cents or more.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposed a rule Wednesday that would clear the way for interstate natural gas pipelines to quickly rebuild their facilities in the wake of “deliberate damage” caused by terrorists or others.

The media spotlight on the natural gas industry has “severely constrained” the industry’s ability to develop new resources and prevent an “imminent supply crisis,” according to a new report by Boston-based Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI) Calling it the “arraignment of the gas industry before the investment community, regulators and the public,” ESAI suggested that the headlines have done more damage to the natural gas industry — and future supplies — than just a few black eyes to a few companies.

The ability of FERC to successfully form regional transmission organizations (RTOs) throughout the country will in large measure be tied to how much cooperation and support federal regulators receive from their counterparts at the state level, a key FERC staff member told an audience of energy attorneys in Washington, DC, last Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ability to closely regulate the securities and financial markets has become “increasingly strained” due to its restricted funding, limited staff and high turnover of senior staff, according to a report released by General Accounting Office (GAO) last week.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ability to closely regulate the securities and financial markets has become “increasingly strained” due to its restricted funding, limited staff and high turnover of senior staff, according to a just-released report of the General Accounting Office (GAO).

In a typical display of its ability to shrug off undeniably bullish information, natural gas futures turned lower Wednesday afternoon following the announcement that a whopping 156 Bcf was pulled from underground storage facilities last week. After surpassing its Jan. 17 high of $2.38 to reach a new 5-week high at $2.41, the March contract plummeted 16.5 cents in 25 minutes to finish at $2.245, down 6 cents for the session.

Two El Paso Corp. subsidiaries, El Paso Natural Gas and El Paso Merchant Energy Co. (EPME), possessed market power — the ability to maintain prices above competitive levels — during the summer of 2000, and violated FERC’s marketing affiliate standards that govern the behavior of interstate pipelines and their affiliates, FERC staff counsel has concluded.

Natural gas futures traders have, over the course of the last decade, demonstrated the uncanny ability to look past an in-your-face fundamental indicator and focus instead on an obscure technical benchmark or their perception of data yet-to-be-released. Yesterday was a textbook example of the latter being played out as traders ignored another hefty storage injection to focus instead on their expectations of next week’s release. This was evident in the market’s price action late yesterday afternoon as the August contract rebounded from its pre-AGA lows to finish with a 6-cent gain at $3.342.