Around

While eastern markets meandered around in a generally flatperformance Monday, the West was achieving significant gains ofabout a nickel or more. Topping the list was San Juan Basin, wheresupply outages helped drive quotes up by about 15 cents. Prices inthe Rockies, Pacific Northwest and western Canada also were strongdue to cold weather. It snowed in Calgary Monday morning, onesource said, adding this is late in the season for snow but not arecord for Calgary.

If you build it, a corporate sponsor will come. This time aroundit’s Houston’s new baseball stadium, and Enron Corp. said last weekit will pay $100 million over 30 years for naming rights to theballpark to be known as Enron Field. Enron Energy Services (EES)also will provide energy management to the facility.

All-around price increases Wednesday received support fromcontrasting weather conditions and rising power generation load(plus a tiny assist from a barely higher screen). Most upticks werein the neighborhood of 4-8 cents, although smaller ones were aslittle as two cents at the PG&E citygate.

If you build it, a corporate sponsor will come. This time aroundit’s Houston’s new baseball stadium and Enron Corp., which saidWednesday it will pay $100 million over 30 years for naming rightsto the ballpark to be known as Enron Field. Enron Energy Services(EES) also will provide energy management to the facility.

Producers may be walking around barefoot and hungry after thefinancial struggle in 1998, but LDCs’ wallets are thin as well. Theexceptionally warm year cut gas distribution throughputsignificantly and several local distribution companies ended theyear in the red. Average net income declined 10% for 19 gas andcombination utilities that reported earnings last week or the weekprior.

The producer who expected Midcontinent prices to be back aroundNovember indexes “fairly soon” (see Daily GPI, Nov. 3) didn’t havelong to wait. In fact, he underestimated the cash market as biggains across the board-except for intra-Alberta-Tuesday carriednearly all points back to index levels or higher. Rises between 15and 35 cents dominated the market.

With little to go on in the way of guidance, cash prices muddledaround in an essentially flat performance. There were scattered upsand downs, but no point moved by more than a nickel in eitherdirection and most changes were minuscule.

Reports swirled around Washington last week that the White Houseplans to tap Bill Richardson, U.S. Ambassador to the UnitedNations, as the next secretary of the Department of Energy, butthere was no official confirmation. If true, this would mark thesecond time Deputy Energy Secretary Elizabeth Moler, who mostconcede is best qualified for the job, has been edged out of thetop energy post.

Algonquin Gas Transmission plans a 70-mile HubLine extension toconnect to several new and exisiting power generation loads in theNortheast, particularly around Boston, and with new suppliesthrough the proposed Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline system.