Charts

Acquisitions are pushing Chesapeake Energy Corp. up near the top of the charts in terms of domestic gas production and reserves. The company recently completed three major property acquisitions totaling about $510 million and bringing its gas reserves to more than 3.4 Tcf and its production to an expected 875 MMcf/d in the first quarter and 890 MMcf/d for the year, making it one of the top 15 largest gas producers in North America in terms of daily production.

Sabine Pipe Line Co., Great Lakes Gas Transmission and Centerpoint Energy-MRT topped the charts in customer satisfaction among a total of 42 interstate pipeline companies in a survey by Mastio & Co. Meanwhile, Trailblazer Pipeline and El Paso Natural Gas Co. fell to the bottom of the ranking, and Centerpoint Energy Gas Transmission showed the sharpest fall in the ranking since last year’s survey.

Sabine Pipe Line Co., Great Lakes Gas Transmission and Centerpoint Energy-MRT topped the charts in customer satisfaction among a total of 42 interstate pipeline companies in a survey by Mastio & Co. Meanwhile, Trailblazer Pipeline and El Paso Natural Gas Co. fell to the bottom of the ranking, and Centerpoint Energy Gas Transmission showed the sharpest fall in the ranking since last year’s survey.

Before its sudden downfall, Enron remained at the top of the charts in energy trading and marketing, holding the lead for most of the history of NGI’s ranking of the largest gas marketing companies by volumes sold. It held that spot in the third quarter, but that soon will change, and the impact of Enron’s fall probably will reduce transaction volumes among the other top marketers in the near term, according to Ronald Barone of UBS Warburg.

Before its sudden downfall, Enron remained at the top of the charts in energy trading and marketing, holding the lead for most of the history of NGI’s ranking of the largest gas marketing companies by volumes sold. It held that spot in the third quarter, but that soon will change, and the impact of Enron’s fall probably will reduce transaction volumes among the other top marketers in the near term, according to Ronald Barone of UBS Warburg.

Carving out a wide 15-cent trading range on the daily charts, prompt month natural gas futures continued its volatile temperament yesterday as traders tested both the upside and the downside. As it turns out, neither thrust attracted much in the way of additional buying or selling, leaving the market to chop sideways to slightly higher Tuesday. July finished at $3.981, up 4.2 cents on the day, but nearly 7 cents below its high trade.

Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. , one of North America’s largestindependents, turned in a stellar performance in 2000, doublingcash flow and recording net earnings up five-fold, at the same timeit positioned itself for future gains, adding reserves equal to458% of production.

After failing to fill in a looming chart gap on the daily chartsduring Sunday night’s Access trading session, natural gas futuressank lower for much of the session Monday, as day traders rotatedto the short side of the market. That selling pressure enabled theFebruary contract to trim all of Sunday’s advances, finishing 0.2cents down on the day at $7.457.

The “unbalanced state” of the natural gas market with demandexceeding supply has caused PaineWebber analyst Ronald Barone toraise his average gas price projections by 15 cents for this yearand 10 cents next year over previous predictions, and warn ofpossible severe price spikes throughout the balance of this year.