Broke

Answering the question of whether it would break higher or lower from its recent $6.55 to $6.84 range, April natural gas futures on Tuesday broke above to notch a morning high of $6.94. After peaking early in the session, the prompt month settled down somewhat in the afternoon. April ended up settling at $6.847, up 13.3 cents on the day.

Berlin, CT-based Yankee Gas broke ground Thursday on a new $108 million 1.2 Bcf LNG peak shaving facility at the company’s Eagle Street work center in Waterbury, CT’s south end. The plant, which recently received construction approval from the Connecticut Department of Utility Control, is expected to be in service for the 2007/2008 heating season.

Shooting higher in Access trading and again in the regular session, November futures on Wednesday morning broke through the psychological $7 level and kept on going.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Utah office said it broke records for most acreage, revenues, and bidders in its quarterly oil and gas lease sale earlier this month. The BLM said 159 parcels, covering 245,775 acres received bids and the sale drew $28 million, half of which will go to the state.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Utah office said it broke records for most acreage, revenues, and bidders in its quarterly oil and gas lease sale last week. The BLM said 159 parcels, covering 245,775 acres received bids and the sale drew $28 million, half of which will go to the state.

A fire broke out around 8 a.m. Wednesday at Spinnaker Exploration Co.’s High Island Block 47 “A” platform facility offshore during a routine maintenance operation. Damage was limited to an area immediately adjacent to and including the natural gas metering shack. Company personnel have re-boarded the facility to assess the extent of the damage and investigate the fire’s cause, the company said.

After weeks of flirting with the $6 resistance level, May natural gas futures finally broke it Monday, spending a majority of the day above May’s previous high of $5.99, which was set on April 1. The prompt month settled at $6.009, up 6.8 cents on the day, while trading within the $5.890-6.030 range.

After tumbling beneath key support, the natural gas futures market broke to new two month lows late Thursday morning as traders chose to ignore a seemingly bullish gas storage report (featuring a 236 Bcf withdrawal). However, prices rebounded in the afternoon, suggesting a short-term bottom may be in place. The May contract finished at $5.40, down 25.4 cents for the session, but up an impressive 15 cents above its earlier low.

TransCanada PipeLines broke with tradition in letting its power business take the spotlight last year. The company said Tuesday that it raised its dividend by C2 cents/share to C29 cents and reported higher net income for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2003 mainly due to improvements made possible by its power plant acquisitions. Its full-year C$1.66/share earnings from continuing operations beat analysts estimates of C$1.59/share.