Across

As expected, prices were falling virtually across the board Thursday as the screen turned in another negative performance and air conditioning load remained unseasonably light outside the western portion of the Southeast and in the Midcontinent and desert Southwest.

Prices were falling almost across the board Tuesday in both late-June swing deals and in bidweek trading. The screen was an obvious negative influence, but of greater impact was a growing feeling that prospects are dim for the market to pull out of its tailspin anytime soon.

Owners of transmission systems stretching across several Southeastern states have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a regional transmission organization (RTO) for the region. If the transmission owners prove successful in their efforts to develop the RTO, it would be one of the nation’s largest, covering more than 39,000 miles of transmission lines with an investment in assets in excess of $6 billion.

PG&E Gas Transmission, Northwest announced plans to construct a gas pipeline lateral across Washington state that would bring gas to new power plants and LDC load from GTN’s mainline. The project, called the Washington Lateral (WL), would begin at GTN’s mainline in eastern Washington, bear west toward central Washington and terminate at or near Northwest Pipeline’s mainline system in western Washington’s Interstate-5 corridor. The WL is intended to serve developing electric generation projects and local gas distribution needs along and at the terminus of the route, PG&E said. The WL also may have the capability to deliver gas to NPC’s Spokane and Wenatchee Laterals as well as to its mainline south of Seattle. For more information contact GTN’s Dave Van Driel, Randy Hunter, Dave Sloan or Jim Schoene.

PG&E Gas Transmission, Northwest announced plans to construct a gas pipeline lateral across Washington state that would bring gas to new power plants and LDC load from GTN’s mainline.

Noting the mild temperatures across the country, favorable arbitrage spreads and “ambitious distributor refills,” the industry continues to “inject a significant amount of natural gas into storage,” said UBS Warburg analyst Ronald Barone last week in his weekly research note. Even though national supplies now stand at 958 Bcf versus 1,117 Bcf a year ago, Barone said he expects to see the storage deficit drop and perhaps post a surplus by this summer.

Noting the mild temperatures across the country, favorable arbitrage spreads and “ambitious distributor refills,” the industry continues to “inject a significant amount of natural gas into storage,” said UBS Warburg analyst Ronald Barone last week in his weekly research note. Even though national supplies now stand at 958 Bcf versus 1,117 Bcf a year ago, Barone said he expects to see the storage deficit drop and perhaps post a surplus by this summer.

In a place where he could put his point across no more clearly — a room full of Associated Press journalists — Vice President Dick Cheney last Monday used a Canadian pulpit to begin the official push for advancing the Bush Administration’s official energy policy. Cheney noted that without a solid energy plan, the entire country faces future energy shortages similar to California’s current crisis.

May aftermarket pricing continued to erode Tuesday nearly across the board. Most declines were between about a nickel and a little more than 20 cents, with a majority of them toward the upper end of that range. The non-Malin California points plunged more than a dollar.