Beginning

Houston-area residents served by Reliant Energy Entex will see a 22% reduction in natural gas bills beginning in February, saving customers about $90 million on an annual basis. The reduction follows one last August when the company announced a 19% reduction to save about $100 million on an annual basis. A typical bill for 100 cubic feet that was $83.27 now will be $65.17, reflecting fluctuations in fuel prices. “The price we pay to purchase natural gas has continued to drop in the last several months, and these lower wholesale prices reduce the cost of delivering natural gas,” said Tom Standish, president of Reliant Energy HL&P/Entex.

Houston-area residents served by Reliant Energy Entex will see a 22% reduction in natural gas bills beginning in February, saving customers about $90 million on an annual basis. The reduction follows one last August when the company announced a 19% reduction to save about $100 million on an annual basis. A typical bill for 100 cubic feet that was $83.27 now will be $65.17, reflecting fluctuations in fuel prices. “The price we pay to purchase natural gas has continued to drop in the last several months, and these lower wholesale prices reduce the cost of delivering natural gas,” said Tom Standish, president of Reliant Energy HL&P/Entex.

The Desert Crossing Gas Storage and Transportation System announced an open season beginning Thursday and extending through Feb. 8 for its 10 Bcf, high-deliverability natural gas storage complex and pipeline running through parts of Arizona and Nevada just east of Topock, AZ. The 800 MMcf/d pipeline will span roughly 300 miles from outside of Las Vegas to southwestern Arizona, connecting the storage complex with Kern River, Transwestern, and El Paso Natural Gas.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week signaled the beginning of a shift in its policy on negotiated transactions, saying it will require pipelines negotiating customer-specific deals that include “material deviations” from their form of service agreements to offer the service to other similarly situated shippers on their systems.

While some experts expect the economic slowdown to shave significant gas demand from the market this winter, Raymond James & Associates believes there will be a substantial shift toward greater year-over-year gas demand comparisons by mid-December. The investment bank said that high prices last winter drove about 8-10 Bcf/d of demand out of the market in the first quarter of 2001. At least half of that demand should be back by the first quarter of 2002, it said.

While some experts expect the economic slowdown to shave significant gas demand from the market this winter, Raymond James & Associates believes there will be a substantial shift toward greater year-over-year gas demand comparisons by mid-December. The investment bank said that high prices last winter drove about 8-10 Bcf/d of demand out of the market in the first quarter of 2001. At least half of that demand should be back by the first quarter of 2002, it said.

A relatively bullish storage report (65 Bcf), rising futures prices, continued moderate heating demand and the shutdown of another unit at the Palo Verde nuclear station in Arizona all contributed to solid price increases across the board yesterday.

Rendezvous Gas Services LLC, formed by subsidiaries of Western Gas Resources Inc. (WGR) and Questar Market Resources plans to offer gas gathering and compression services beginning next year in the Pinedale anticline and Hoback Basin areas in southwest Wyoming under a joint venture agreement between the two companies.

Rendezvous Gas Services LLC, formed by subsidiaries of Western Gas Resources Inc. (WGR) and Questar Market Resources plans to offer gas gathering and compression services beginning next year in the Pinedale anticline and Hoback Basin areas in southwest Wyoming under a joint venture agreement between the two companies.