Bolstering

The natural gas industry has “turned a corner” in bolstering confidence in the system for reporting prices on gas trades to publishers of price indexes, said the head of FERC’s Office of Market Oversight and Investigations (OMOI) Tuesday.

Responding to outside assessments that U.S. natural gasproduction could be 5% below the average of recent heating seasons,the American Gas Association (AGA) said it expected “ample suppliesof natural gas to be available this winter at competitive prices.

Dynegy last week said it will pick up a bundle of Midwestgeneration assets to accelerate its energy convergence strategywhen it acquires Decatur, IL-based Illinova Corp. The combinedcompany will be called Dynegy and will own/control more than 15,000MW of gross domestic generating capacity, average more than 9 Bcf/dof gas sales, and serve more than 950,000 retail customers.

Though still one of the most dangerous hurricanes to come downthe pike in many years, Mitch was unable to to sustain its positiveinfluence on cash prices Tuesday. Incremental quotes ranged fromslightly higher to as much as 7-8 cents lower, with the majority ofpoints registering downticks. A diving futures screen set theexample for cash to emulate, sources said.