Course

After settling near the day’s high on Monday, May natural gas futures wasted almost no time in reversing their course on Tuesday. After peaking at $7.39 in morning trade, the prompt month spent the rest of the session exploring lower, reaching a low of $7.085 just before settling at $7.094, down 21.5 cents on the day. With the recent uptrend now broken, some market experts believe that $7 futures might not be around much longer.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan may need a refresher course on natural gas supply issues because he’s been way off the mark in recent public speeches, including one last week to the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association’s International Petrochemical Conference, the American Public Gas Association (APGA) said on Tuesday.

Canadian producers are more optimistic than ever before about the future course of natural gas prices, according to an annual survey of the sector by Deloitte & Touche. While braced for oil to take a tumble, the Canadians expect gas to have a comparatively soft landing when energy commodity markets dive from their current peaks if the conflicts in the Middle East cool off enough to take out the fear factor.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) was on course to become the new chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee late Wednesday, succeeding Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-LA), who stepped down from the position earlier this month, Capitol Hill aides said.

More high-profile, FERC-regulated energy companies are continuing to report data on natural gas and power trades to index publishers — or plan to resume the practice soon — than those who have opted to discontinue the practice, according to a review of the filings on the Commission’s website.

More high-profile, FERC-regulated energy companies are continuing to report data on natural gas and power trades to index publishers — or plan to resume the practice soon — than those who have opted to discontinue the practice, according to a review of the filings on the Commission’s website.

Last week, even before Hurricane Isabel’s course had taken a definite turn toward the U.S. mid-Atlantic Coast, utilities all along the coast and inland in the prospective path of the broad and intense storm had begun to ready their outage personnel and alert customers of possible wide-ranging devastation if Isabel hits late this week and bounces along the coast as have some previous storms.

Curtis Wagner, FERC’s chief judge, last week reversed course from a decision he reached in late June and said that he will certify to the full Commission a settlement between Avista and FERC staff aimed at resolving allegations that the power company engaged in trading strategies designed to manipulate California’s energy markets in 2000-2001.

North American natural gas drilling is up 30% from the beginning of the year and is on course to reach its 2001 peak by the fourth quarter, Merrill Lynch said in a new report on the oilfield service sector. Canadian drilling activity, which often is a good indicator of upstream spending going forward, is heading for a near record level this year.