Allowing

Citing high linepack and storage limitations, Northwest said itis not allowing any on-system balancing or banking through the restof September. Both the Clay Basin and Jackson Prairie storagefacilities are nearly full even though the injection seasondeadline for 100% fills is Sept. 30, Northwest said. In addition,mainline capacity is “very limited” in accepting payback volumesdirectly to linepack, the pipeline added.

For the second trading session in a row, early selling pressurewas reversed in afternoon trading allowing the market to close nearits daily high. The July contract notched a $2.325 low both Fridayand Monday, but settled back up above $2.37 both days. Evenestimated volume figures were similar with yesterday’s 43,630falling just short of Friday’s 45,070 mark.

The states’ practice of mandating the assignment of LDC-heldupstream capacity to marketers as an “express condition” toallowing them or their customers access to an unbundled natural gasmarketplace flies in the face of antitrust laws and FERC’s gasrestructuring rule, contends Enron Corp.’s marketing arm.

The states’ practice of mandating the assignment of LDC-heldupstream capacity to marketers as an “express condition” toallowing them or their customers access to an unbundled natural gasmarketplace flies in the face of antitrust laws and FERC’s gasrestructuring rule, contends Enron Corp.’s marketing arm.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) praisedthe action of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit in allowing marginaloil well operators producing on public lands to suspend operationsfor up to two years without losing their leases. The announcementcame Thursday on the heels of the release of an IPAA survey showinghistorically low oil prices have increased the number of shut-insand the industry unemployment rate.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) praisedthe action of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit in allowing marginaloil well operators producing on public lands to suspend operationsfor up to two years without losing their leases. The announcementcame Thursday on the heels of the release of an IPAA survey showinghistorically low oil prices have increased the number of shut-insand the industry unemployment rate.

South Jersey Gas Co. has signed an agreement with WeatherwiseUSA allowing the New Jersey LDC to offer its retail gas customers aWeatherProof Bill. The bill, which is based on historical gas usepatterns, utility rates, average temperatures, and administrativecosts, fixes a customer’s total gas costs for 12 months withouthigh settle-up charges to cover any excess gas use.

Allowing interstate gas pipelines to sell long-term turnbackcapacity at market-based rates, without first requiring a showingof a competitive market or mitigation measures, could trigger morealleged “anticompetitive” contract arrangements between pipes andmarketers – similar to the one between Dynegy Marketing and Tradeand El Paso Natural Gas, warned California regulators.

The last of three pilot deregulation programs in Michigan is being launched this month with Michigan Consolidated Gas allowing 75,000 of its customers to sign up to test offers from other gas marketers; and Consumers Energy can’t wait. Consumers announced an aggressive promotional campaign last week with the intent to grab as much of its neighboring LDC’s market as possible. It’s campaign was scheduled to start Jan. 2 with a sponsored Harlem Globetrotters game.