Compared

Pioneer Natural Resources board approved a 28% increase in its2001 capital budget compared to 2000 spending and announced a newhedging program weighted toward first quarter prices. Its spendingwill be weighted heavily toward natural gas development.

Despite a high weekly storage injection of 36 Bcf last weekcompared to a five year average build of only 13 Bcf, according tothe American Gas Association (AGA)’s weekly report yesterday, thefutures market soared much higher and yanked cash prices up withit. Most daily cash price gains ranged from 20 cents to 35 cents.

A survey of second quarter financial reports from 25 producersreveals a 0.5% decline in U.S. gas production compared to 2Q99. Outof 25 producers, fourteen reported lower production and basinexploration. Pioneer Resources, Ocean Energy, Union Pacific andKerr McGee showed the largest U.S. production declines.

Southern Company Energy Marketing said it sold 55.07 million MWhof electricity and 6.9 Bcf/d of gas in the first quarter of 2000,compared with 43.32 million MWh and 6.6 Bcf/d during the sameperiod in 1999. The marketing company, based in Atlanta, is jointlyowned by Southern Energy and Vastar Resources Inc.

Cross Timbers Oil Co. of Fort Worth, TX, proved oil and gasreserves at year-end 1999 were estimated to be a record 2.02 Tcfe,up 23% compared with 1.64 Tcfe at year-end 1998. Cross Timbersadded 852 Bcfe during 1999 at a cost of 70 cents/Mcfe. Afterdeducting reserve sales of 325 Bcfe, the company replaced 527 Bcfeor 367% of 1999 production. The company’s development program,including the effect of revisions, replaced 341 Bcfe or 237% ofproduction at a cost of 28 cents/Mcfe.

The recent running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, seems prettytame compared to the stampede developing in the gas market. It wasa more hectic Nymex closing day than usual Wednesday as a mildincrease in the last day of trading August futures was accompaniedby what one source called a “pitiful” little AGA storage injectionreport, Michigan electric utilities appealing a day in advance forenergy conservation, a skyrocketing Access session and higher Julyswing numbers. All in all, it added up to an extremely strongmarket that “there doesn’t seem to be any way of stopping,” a Texasmarketer said.

Most sources were seeing bidweek prices running approximatelyflat Monday compared to the previous Friday, although a marketersaid some Southwest numbers were “up about a penny.” On the otherhand, a buyer who paid in the low $1.70s in the NGPL Midcontinentpool Friday said he was hearing of $1.69 deals Monday.

The natural gas utility industry may be small when compared toother investment opportunities, but it’s still an extremelyattractive stock play – especially for the small- to medium-sizedinvestor, said a representative of the American Gas Association(AGA) last week.

The upward track of cash prices continued Wednesday, but at asnail’s pace compared to Tuesday’s skyrocketing pyrotechnics. Mostof the new increases were quite meager, ranging from a penny or soto about a nickel. The first significant winter weather that manyareas have seen so far this season was credited with keeping theNovember price rally going, albeit modestly.