Another

After beginning last week in the middle of a three-dayhigh-inventory OFO (see Daily GPI, June 22), Pacific Gas &Electric declared another one for Saturday after previously sayingit expected system linepack to remain well above the utility’starget through the weekend. The new order carried a positiveimbalance tolerance of 11% and penalties of $1/dth fornon-compliance.

Historically, the end of the week has meant slackened gasdemand, but for the sixth consecutive Friday natural gas futureswere able to tack on gains. Revised weather forecasts for this weekand continued concerns over supply shortages gave rise to lightshort-covering throughout the trading session Friday. The Julycontract finished up 2.3 cents at $2.308 amid a moderate volume of64,873.

The overall market continued to consolidate mostly flatpositions Tuesday in another session of quiet trading and fairlytight price ranges. The little bit of movement tended to beslightly to the downside. Once again traders gleaned little in theway of guidance from a stagnant futures screen or from mild weatherfundamentals. A couple of sources seemed resigned to finishing outthe rest of the week in a sideways market.

Warm temperatures in major eastern cities and apprehension aboutthe possibility of “another bullish storage report” gave bulls thereason to buoy the market higher yesterday, and they did notsquander the opportunity. Buying, led mainly by commercial traders,sent the July contract up to a retest of its previous open outcrysession high of $2.41 before settling at $2.407. Estimated volumewas 73,884.

UtiliCorp United added another Missouri-based utility to its recent acquisitions last week, buying Empire District Electric Co. in a stock and cash transaction valued at $800 million, including assumption of debt. The purchase comes only two months after UtiliCorp bought St. Joseph Light &Power for $270 million (see NGI, March 8).

Cash prices continued climbing by another nickel or more at mostpoints Wednesday, but traders sensed the market might have peakedfor the first week of the May aftermarket. They cited late dealsbeing done several cents below the early-morning highs. And the AGAstorage report of 34 Bcf in injections last week, although it cametoo late to affect Wednesday’s cash business, was regarded by manyas contributing to a more bearish mood. One source characterizedthe figure as “kind of middle of the road” (because it met theexpectations of many) but leaning slightly to the bearish side. Heand others noted the drop in Access futures prices after the reportcame out.

Hoping the second time is the charm, Duke Energy announcedWednesday an open season for 300,000 Dth/d of firm capacity on itsproposed Spectrum Pipeline project. The open season will last fromMay 7 to June 4.

Illinova Energy Partners (IEP) purchased another niche retailmarketing operation last week to bolster its presence in keyderegulating markets. The company, which has added EMC GasTransmission in Michigan and Equitable Resource Marketing inIndiana during the last six months, purchased Tempe, AZ-basedQuality Energy Services (QES) to gain a foothold in thesoon-to-be-deregulated Arizona energy market.

Illinova Energy Partners (IEP) purchased another niche retailmarketing operation yesterday to bolster it presence in keyderegulating markets. The company, which has added EMC GasTransmission in Michigan and Equitable Resource Marketing inIndiana during the last six months, purchased Tempe, AZ-basedQuality Energy Services (QES) to gain a foothold in thesoon-to-be-deregulated Arizona energy market.