After

Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) parent Unicom is planning a shoppingspree that could include one or several major gas or waterdistribution companies or a communications company, Unicom Chairmanand CEO John W. Rowe said this week at the company’s annualmeeting.

After almost 18 months of detailed proceedings and negativelegislative signals, California regulators have pulled backsubstantially from original proposals to unbundle the state’snatural gas industry along the lines of the state’s electricderegulation.

Working gas levels in storage at the end of the winter heatingseason have been revised by the Energy Information Administration(EIA) after a report from ANR Pipeline that 47 Bcf of working gasin its Michigan storage facilities was reclassified as base gas.The change means working gas levels at the end of the winterheating season were 3% lower than first reported by the EIA, or1,430 Bcf compared to 1,477 Bcf.

After almost 18 months of detailed proceedings and negativelegislative signals, California regulators have pulled backsubstantially from original proposals to unbundle the state’snatural gas industry along the lines of its electric deregulation.

Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) parent Unicom is planning a shoppingspree that could include one or several major gas or waterdistribution companies or a communications company, Unicom Chairmanand CEO John W. Rowe said this week at the company’s annualmeeting.

Costilla Energy Inc. of Midland, TX, is examining its optionsafter lenders extended until June 1 a $10.2 million mandatoryprincipal payment due a bank credit facility. Petrie Parkman &ampCo. was hired to weigh potential deals.

After an early attempt to take out prior highs was rebuffedyesterday, natural gas futures trickled down to easily establish anew low for the week at $2.19. Bears were egged on by a number offactors, which include a rapidly deteriorating technical pictureand expected weekend physical demand fall-off, sources agreed. TheJune contract finished at $2.218, down 3.6 cents for the day.

Costilla Energy Inc. of Midland, TX, is examining its optionsafter lenders extended until June 1 a $10.2 million mandatoryprincipal payment due a bank credit facility. Petrie Parkman &Co. was hired to weigh potential deals.

After opening at or near lows for the day, the futures marketrallied higher Thursday, spurred by the confluence of bullishtechnical and fundamental factors. With a 9.1-cent advance, Junebroke through several key resistance levels before eventuallyfinishing at $2.282 for the day. Estimated volume was a healthy76,540.