Actual

Reliant Energy Retail Inc., announced last week the purchase ofall New Jersey Natural Energy’s (NJNE) commercial gas contracts.The actual agreement was signed last week, NJNE said, and customeraccounts are already switching to Reliant. Neither the number ofpurchased accounts nor the financial terms of the transaction weredisclosed. The two companies said the transition will be seamless.

Reliant Energy Retail Inc., announced yesterday the purchase ofall New Jersey Natural Energy’s (NJNE) commercial gas contracts.The actual agreement was signed last week, NJNE said, and customeraccounts are already switching to Reliant. Neither the number ofpurchased accounts nor the financial terms of the transaction weredisclosed. The two companies said the transition will be seamless.

Despite warming temperatures, both forecasted and actual, thenatural gas market posted its second day of gains Thursday in atechnically driven trading session. After a strong open, theDecember contract received a boost from short covering by tradersbetting that the market may have reached a short-term bottom in thelow $2.40s. The prompt month finished at $2.496, up 4 cents on theday.

In the first of what may be a series of actual lawmakinghearings, House lawmakers on the energy and power subcommitteeacknowledged last week that for the first time in a couple of yearsthey were starting to see a light at the end of tunnel onelectricity restructuring.

The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Thursdayapproved royalty-in-kind legislation (H.R. 3334) to require thefederal government to take the actual oil or natural gas product asits royalty payment instead of cash for production offshore and onfederal lands. The bill, opposed by the Interior Department’sMinerals Management Service (MMS), included an amendment whichwould allow the government to receive cash for production fromlow-volume producing wells in remote locations.