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Pacific Gas and Electric kept a systemwide high-inventory OFO on its California Gas Transmission system in place at least through Friday but lowered the category from Stage 3 to Stage 2, loosened the tolerance on daily positive imbalances from 5% to 12% and reduced penalties for exceeding the tolerance from $5/Dth to $1/Dth.

Though Bill remains hundreds of miles from the East Coast, it is now an “extremely dangerous” Category Four hurricane and could give the coast of New England a glancing blow by Sunday, the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Wednesday.

Spikes at Northeast citygates Tuesday didn’t get much company elsewhere in the firming category. Most points declined as moderating weather trends in the western half of the South, Midcontinent and Midwest limited overall heating load. The previous Friday’s 4.2-cent drop by February futures was another mildly negative factor for the cash market.

Proving Monday’s 49.1-cent gain was all bark and no bite in the momentum category, December natural gas futures on Tuesday plummeted as global economy concerns continue to raise questions about commodity demand strength and weather forecasts continued to shift. The front-month contract ended up closing Tuesday’s regular session at $6.705, down 54.3 cents from Monday’s finish.

A Category 5 hurricane that passes through the heart of Gulf of Mexico energy platforms could cause producer damage and output losses of more than $65 billion, according to an expert on extreme-risk modeling.

A Category 5 hurricane that passes through the heart of Gulf of Mexico energy platforms could cause producer damage and losses of more than $65 billion, says an expert on extreme-risk modeling.

WSI Corp. made no changes in an updated tropical outlook, continuing to forecast 14 named storms, six hurricanes and three intense hurricanes (Category 3 or greater) during the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, and predicted warmer than normal temperatures across all but the northwestern quarter of the U.S. through November.

WSI Corp. made no changes in an updated tropical outlook, continuing to forecast 14 named storms, six hurricanes and three intense hurricanes (Category 3 or greater) during the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season.

An updated tropical outlook issued by WSI Corp. trims the number of storms forecast, with 14 named storms, six hurricanes and three intense hurricanes (Category 3 or greater) predicted. At the same time the Andover, MA-based provider of weather-driven business solutions sees alternating warmer than normal temperatures through October in some areas and cooling in others, adding up to neutral to bearish gas prices.