Ahead

The Energy Information Administration released its Annual EnergyOutlook 1999 (AEO99) last week, projecting gas demand will grow byabout 50% to 33.17 Tcf by 2020 from 1997 levels of 22.59 Tcf, whichis a 1.7% average annual increase.

When the going gets tough, the tough turn to gas. That’s oneconclusion that can be drawn from results of Arthur Andersen’s 11thannual U.S. Oil and Gas Industry Outlook Survey. While 70% of the83 companies responding to the survey said they plan to cutexploration spending or hold it at current levels in the comingyear, gas will get a bigger share of the attention. Nearly half ofthe respondents (49%) plan to focus on gas exploration, an increaseof 20% from a year ago. Another 39% of respondents said they willbalance efforts between oil and gas.

The Energy Information Administration released its Annual EnergyOutlook 1999 (AEO99) yesterday, projecting gas demand will grow byabout 50% to 33.17 Tcf by 2020 from 1997 levels of 22.59 Tcf, whichis a 1.7% average annual increase. Total energy demand is projectedto grow 1.1%/year to 119.9 quadrillion Btu by 2020 from 94 quads in1997.

A constructive price move near the close of trading Tuesday anda well-bid over-the-counter market Wednesday morning had bullschamping at the bit early yesterday. But by afternoon, forecastscalling for a moderation of the cold weather gripping much of themiddle of the country had begun to filter through the futuresmarket which left prices to trickle lower. Both the December andJanuary contract slipped 4.6 cents, settling at $2.432 and $2.557respectively.

The futures market gave back some ground early in the dayFriday, but then managed to rebound late to trade to either side ofunchanged for the day. That enabled the December contract to settlefor the second day in a row at $2.553. Estimated volume was amoderate 47,537.

FERC has given the go-ahead to a major project that wouldincrease the deliverability of Jackson Prairie Storage by 300MMcf/d and would more than double its best-efforts withdrawal rate,both of which will boost the peak-shaving capabilities of thestorage provider.

CalEnergy Co. and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. filed anapplication for review of proposal for reorganization with the IowaUtilities Board (IUB) in conjunction with their proposed merger.The merger agreement is also subject to approval by theshareholders of both companies, for which special meetings will becalled later this year. Completion of the merger is expected tooccur by the end of the first quarter of 1999.

FERC last week gave the green light for ANR Pipeline to moveahead with construction of its Wisconsin Loop Expansion Project,which would provide about 116 MMcf/d of additional capacity toLDCs, marketers and power generators in the state. This puts ANRout in front of competing projects that also intend to vie for themarket.

FERC last week gave the green light for ANR Pipeline to moveahead with construction of its Wisconsin Loop Expansion Project,which would provide about 116 MMcf/d of additional capacity toLDCs, marketers and power generators in the state. This puts ANRout in front of competing projects that also intend to vie for themarket.