Besieged

Besieged Royal Dutch/Shell Group last week cut its proven oil and natural gas reserves again amid an unconfirmed report that the Department of Justice has opened an inquiry into whether the company or its executives violated any U.S. laws by failing to timely report the overbooking of reserves.

Besieged by a deteriorating fundamental picture in a market that is already firmly entrenched in a downtrend, natural gas futures traders pressured prices to new lows yesterday, amid a seemingly relentless barrage of selling activity. Even the season’s first triple-digit storage withdrawal (124 Bcf) failed to induce much of any buying sympathy, giving traders little choice but to continue to short the market. The February contract closed 19.7 cents lower at $2.268 and in doing so broke its previous all-time low at $2.415 notched back in February 1999.

Mountain Energy Corp., the Midwest gas marketer that has been besieged by lawsuits and a petition seeking to force it into bankruptcy, last week notified its customers in Kansas and Missouri that it will stop supplying them with natural gas after Oct. 31.

Mountain Energy Corp., the Midwest gas marketer that has beenbesieged by lawsuits and a petition seeking to force it intobankruptcy, has notified its customers in Kansas and Missouri thatit will stop supplying them with natural gas after Oct. 31.