Bolstered

Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) has bolstered its intrastate pipeline system with four expansions this year, adding 375 MMcf/d. The 11% increase in capacity was done to better prepare for extreme demand conditions, such as those of 2000-2001. Unfortunately, however, gas demand is expected to drop by 500 MMcf/d this year and by another 250 MMcf/d in 2003.

Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) has bolstered its intrastate pipeline system with four expansions this year, adding 375 MMcf/d. The 11% increase in capacity was done to better prepare for extreme demand conditions, such as those of 2000-2001. Unfortunately, however, gas demand is expected to drop by 500 MMcf/d this year and by another 250 MMcf/d in 2003.

Calpine Corp. has further bolstered its gas supply portfolio with the purchase of Highland Energy Co. from Entergy Power Gas Operations Corp. and Louis Morrison. Highland currently aggregates more than 300 MMcfe/d across major U.S. supply basins. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Calpine Corp. has further bolstered its gas supply portfolio with the purchase of Highland Energy Co. from Entergy Power Gas Operations Corp. and Louis Morrison. Highland currently aggregates more than 300 MMcfe/d across major U.S. supply basins. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Bolstered by the return of hotter weather to some regions and a screen gain of nearly a dime, nearly all points ranged from flat to about a nickel higher Tuesday. A PG&E citygate gain of slightly more than 15 cents, coupled with declines of about a dime at Malin and about 25 cents at Southern Border into PG&E, were the primary exceptions to mild firmness.

Bolstered by a futures gain of slightly more than a quarter but not much else other than expectations of more robust fundamentals, cash prices rebounded across the board Monday. Every point was up around 20 cents or more, with western increases tending to be much larger and hitting triple digits in California. Rockies numbers were on the high side of $2 again after having dipped below that level for the weekend.

CanWest Gas Supply Inc., an old-line natural gas aggregators inBritish Columbia — and also the largest — has agreed to allowAtlanta’s Southern Company Energy Marketing to manage its business.

Bolstered by follow-through buying on the heels of Monday’s14.5-cent rally, natural gas prices pressed higher early yesterdayonly to tumble back to near unchanged. At the closing bell, Junefutures were up a scant 1.3 cents at $3.183.

Bolstered by its completed merger with Sonat Inc., El PasoEnergy said yesterday that diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose20% to $1.80 last year, up from $1.50 in 1998. During the fourthquarter, when the Sonat deal was finalized, the company postedearnings of $295 million or 48 cents/share, versus $229 million, or33 cents, during the year-ago period.