Bump

Reporting a 34% increase in operating revenues for the second quarter year over year, but only a 9% bump up in net income, executives with Nymex Holdings, parent of the New York Mercantile Exchange, said they had a major cost-cutting effort currently under way and expected to make “a significant reduction in costs” in the current quarter.

Reporting a 34% increase in operating revenues for the second quarter year over year, but only a 9% bump up in net income, executives with Nymex Holdings, parent of the New York Mercantile Exchange, said they had a major cost-cutting effort currently under way and expected to make “a significant reduction in costs” in the current quarter.

Saying it was mostly expected as a one-quarter bump in the financial results this year, Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy’s CFO Wednesday outlined various regulatory issues, revenue hits and higher operating costs facing the multi-state utility holding company after reporting decreased first quarter profits — $120 million, or 28 cents/diluted share, for this quarter ended March 31, compared to $151 million, or 36 cents/share, for the same quarter last year.

With its linepack projected to bump up against maximum target levels in the next couple of days, Pacific Gas & Electric issued a customer-specific OFO for Thursday.

Enbridge Gas Distribution said Monday it has received approval from the Ontario Energy Board to adjust its gas prices upward on Jan. 1, increasing its gas supply charge from C19.095 cents per cubic meter to C21.254 cents per cubic meter. The subsidiary of Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. noted that due to costs that are directly linked to the price of the commodity, there is also a slight increase in its delivery charge.

Going against the grain and current consensus views, Raymond James analyst Marshall Adkins and his group said Monday that they believe natural gas prices will average $5/MMBtu next year, which would be about 50% higher than average 2002 prices and substantially higher than most, if not all, other gas price forecasts by analysts, consultants and the federal government.