Fueled by positive expiration-day price action last Friday andprodded by continued anticipation of higher prices this summer,natural gas futures shuffled higher yesterday as bulls gave a warmbuying welcome to the new spot contract April. With that boost theApril contract closed up 6.9 cents at $2.686 while the summer stripwas up 5.3 cents at $2.721.
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Chevron, Kerr-McGee Optimistic for 2000 Spending, Production
Citing confidence in growth prospects, San Francisco-basedChevron Corp. said it plans to spend $5.2 billion this year. Still,that figure, which includes increased investment in Dynegy Inc., isless than estimated 1999 spending. “We’ll devote the majority ofour capital dollars to developing the high potential of ourextensive worldwide upstream portfolio, including recent propertyacquisitions in Thailand and Argentina,” said CEO Dave O’Reilly.
Chevron, Kerr-McGee Optimistic for 2000
Citing confidence in growth prospects, San Francisco-basedChevron Corp. said it plans to spend $5.2 billion this year. Still,that figure, which includes increased investment in Dynegy Inc., isless than estimated 1999 spending. “We’ll devote the majority ofour capital dollars to developing the high potential of ourextensive worldwide upstream portfolio, including recent propertyacquisitions in Thailand and Argentina,” said CEO Dave O’Reilly.
Southern Union, PNT Merger Completed
Southern Union has completed its merger with PennsylvaniaEnterprises. “The prompt completion of this merger is a vote ofconfidence by our regulators and shareholders, as well as thefinancial community,” said Southern Union President Peter H.Kelley. PEI shareholders will receive 1.59 shares of Southern Unioncommon stock and $3 in cash for each share of PEI common stock.Southern Union also announced a stock repurchase program not toexceed $40 million. It is issuing 17 million shares of common stockand is paying $32 million in cash in connection with thistransaction. In addition, on Oct. 5 Southern Union announced amerger agreement with Fall River Gas, a gas distributor serving48,000 customers in southeastern Massachusetts. The transaction,valued at $75 million.
NEB Shows Confidence in Gas Deliverability
Canada’s National Energy Board has sent a message toparticipants in the international natural gas trade: Stay cool andgreet predictions of Canadian supply shortages with healthyskepticism.
Short-Covering Boosts Futures, Bulls Confidence
Natural gas futures made it three in a row yesterday when acombination of commercial short covering and local buy-stop huntingboosted the contract to its highest level since last week. In doingso, the prompt contract was able to fill in a chart gap createdbetween Friday’s $2.283 low and Monday’s $2.26 high. July finishedat $2.295, up 3.1 on the day.