Coaster

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth L. Lay went on possibly the biggest emotional roller-coaster ride of his life last week, first being subjected to what amounted to a public verbal flogging at the hands of a Senate committee on Tuesday — one senator called him “perhaps the most accomplished confidence man since Charles Ponzi” — only to be somewhat rehabilitated later in the week when a high-level Enron executive testified that Lay had been “duped” by his closest associates.

End-of-the-year assessments of California’s roller-coaster ride along energy restructuring point to a lack of consensus among the state’s leaders and industry stakeholders about what the state’s future framework for electricity in particular should look like. A report over the holiday week in the Los Angeles Times reported a split between the state’s top regulator and state legislator over who should take the next steps in shaping the state’s energy markets.

The roller coaster ride of natural gas prices over the past year and a half is clear evidence of a market in need of federal repair, Apache Corp. said last week, adding that an Enron-Dynegy merger would exacerbate the existing market malfunction.

Natural gas prices remained on a roller coaster ride of volatility yesterday as bull traders used the latest storage data as a battering ram to propel prices higher in the last 30 minutes of trading. The December contract received the biggest buying boost, posting a 10.8-cent gain at $3.291. The 12-month strip lagged only slightly, advancing 8.4 cents to close at $3.383.

Like an old wooden roller coaster that ratchets its way to the top only to plunge back to earth in a matter of seconds, natural gas futures free-fell yesterday, as traders liquidated weak length acquired over the last several weeks. The gut-wrenching session left the prompt May contract 26.8 cents lower at $5.248.

With natural gas price spikes finally seeming to ease after asix-month-long roller coaster ride, U.S. electricity generatorshave taken the experience as a warning, but vow to stick withnatural gas as their go-to plant-firing source.

With natural gas price spikes finally seeming to ease after asix-month-long roller coaster ride, U.S. electricity generatorshave taken the experience as a warning, but vow to stick withnatural gas as their go-to plant-firing source.

Natural gas prices continued their roller coaster ride last weekwith changes in near- and long-term weather forecasts, and acolder-than-normal winter season which could lead to physicalshortages, according to Salomon Smith Barney’s weekly E&Pforecast. However, even though E&P shares declined 7% onaverage last week, there’s still plenty of gains to be had thisyear by both large and small players.

The price roller coaster continued in the natural gas pit at theNew York Mercantile Exchange Thursday as traders went through themotions of checking the latest hurricane forecast and then tradedaccordingly. Yesterday that translated into selling, by trade andlocals alike, as they reduced their long exposure on the news thatDebby had weakened into a tropical wave.