Adding

One month after getting the regulatory green light on its Lodigas storage project in Northern California, Western Hub PropertiesLLC said it is about to announce another high-deliverabilitystorage project in Bakersfield, CA, near Wheeler Ridge, and ismoving forward on a storage facility in Live Oak and KarnesCounties, TX, near San Antonio.

If current bullish projections for adding another 5 Tcf of gasdemand nationally over the next 10 years is going to become areality, the pace of merchant power plant development will have toaccelerate and the gas business will have to catch up with it,according to a panel of experts at GasMart/Power 2000 in Denverlast week.

If current bullish projections for adding another 6 Tcf of gasdemand nationally over the next 10 years is going to become areality, the pace of merchant power plant development will have toaccelerate and the gas business will have to catch up with it,according to a Duke Energy executive speaking at GasMart/Power 2000yesterday in Denver. Brad Porlier, vice president for businessdevelopment at Duke Energy North America, said he’s unsure that thecurrent gas industry can meet the challenge, assuming merchantdevelopment can overcome a growing list of hurdles from siting topolitical issues.

Adding to Monday’s 18-cent price slide the futures marketdribbled lower yesterday as traders factored warming temperaturesinto prices and hunted for sell-stops amid two distinct sellingsurges.

California’s regulatory process for adding merchant power plantsand repowering existing merchant sites is likely to get morecomplicated and time-consuming, based on discussions at a Jan. 25one-day energy roundtable on market and infrastructure issuessponsored by the California Public Utilities Commission in SanDiego.

Adding to losses sustained in the Monday evening Access tradingsession, gas futures continued lower yesterday in sympathy withfree falling physical prices and in expectation of a bearishstorage report today. After gapping a hefty 7 cents lower to openat $2.44 the spot month October sifted lower throughout the sessionto close down 9.2 cents at $2.427. Heavy estimated volume of 89,223served to authenticate the move lower.

Energy consulting company Skipping Stone Inc. is adding acommunications systems notch to its bow with the acquisition ofTransCapacity Inc., an established provider of software and systemsto automate pipeline transportation.

Energy consulting company Skipping Stone Inc. is adding acommunications systems notch to its bow with the acquisition ofTransCapacity Inc., an established provider of software and systemsto automate pipeline transportation.

Adding to late session advances made in both regular and Accesstrading sessions Tuesday, natural gas futures pressed higheryesterday morning as local traders bid the market to fresh highs.However, once above the $3.10 level, the buying dried up openingthe opportunity for an aggressive sell-off that ushered the promptmonth lower in the afternoon. The September contract slipped 2.9cents to $3.03 after notching a $2.995 low.