Braces

Northeast utilities continue to report new gas demand records due to extremely low temperatures last Friday and Saturday, but those records are not expected to last long because more severe winter weather is on the way. The National Weather Service is expecting sub-zero temperatures Tuesday night in New England and snow and continued cold through the rest of the week.

As parts of the Northeast and Midwest “enjoyed” a brief respite from an ongoing siege of severely cold weather, prices took steep dives Monday. But with an even worse blast of winter set to show up as early as Tuesday night, traders braced for what are expected to be fairly large rebounds.

While the company braces for a proxy battle at its next annual meeting, El Paso Corp. on Tuesday moved forward with its plan to sell $3.4 billion in assets this year. So far it has sold $1.5 billion in assets including the sale on Tuesday of interests in 275 coal bed methane and conventional gas wells in the Rosa Federal Unit located in San Juan and Rio Arriba Counties, NM, to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) for $135 million.

The head of the General Accounting Office (GAO) says he will pursue a lawsuit against the Bush White House this week if Vice President Dick Cheney does not comply with his demands for the information and records of the Cabinet-level task force, which drafted the administration’s energy policy.