Cloud

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.

In a story that ran in NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index on Dec. 5, titled “Gas Sales Soar 24% in 3Q, but Enron Casts Dark Cloud Over Future,” NGI noted that BP is expected to expand its trading and marketing activities because of it purchase of TransCanada’s marketing operations in September. However, NGI failed to mention that Mirant actually is buying the larger portion of TransCanada’s marketing and trading business, a book covering about 5.1 Bcf/d of TransCanada’s first quarter sales of 7.9 Bcf/d. In September, BP Gas & Power bought TransCanada’s CanStates Gas Marketing, a contract to manage gas supply assets for SEMCO Energy Gas Co., and its marketing and trading operations in its Omaha, NE office. Mirant, however, will become the largest gas dealer in Canada and the top exporter as well with its TransCanada purchase. The deal raises Mirant’s profile in Canadian gas into the range of 6-7 Bcf/d and boosts its total North American gas sales to about 18.2 Bcf/d, which could put it at the top of the rankings in the fourth quarter. TransCanada, Canada’s largest natural gas transporter, exited the natural gas marketing business to focus on its core natural gas transportation and power businesses in Canada and the northern tier of the United States.

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.