Cuts

Lehman Brothers on Tuesday lowered its 2004 natural gas price forecast to $3.75/MMBtu from $4.25 and also lowered the longer term forecast to $3.75 from $4.00 because near-record injection levels heading into the heating season “could cause significant price weakness.”

Kerr-McGee Corp. has announced it will cut its U.S. non-union workforce by 7-9% or up to 250 employees in order to reduce costs. The job reductions and a plan to mitigate $15 million of future annual medical and pension expenses is expected to add up to about $45 million in savings.

Kerr-McGee Corp. has announced it will cut its U.S. non-union workforce by 7-9% or up to 250 employees in order to reduce costs. The job reductions and a plan to mitigate $15 million of future annual medical and pension expenses is expected to add up to about $45 million in savings.

UBS Warburg natural gas analyst Ronald J. Barone said he has lowered his gas price forecast for this year to $5.50/MMBtu at the Henry Hub from about $5.85, but will maintain his projections for next year and 2005 at $4.65 and $4.15, respectively, mainly because wellhead decline rates continue to accelerate while demand from the residential, commercial and power generation sectors continue to increase.

Duke Energy’s credit rating last week was downgraded by both Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service (S&P) and Moody’s Investor Services, but managed to maintain its investment rating. As part of its attempts to boost its bottom line, the company on Wednesday completed the sale of its exploration and production subsidiary, Duke Energy Hydrocarbons LLC (DEH), to a private company for $83 million.

As Canada continues its own struggle to refill gas storage, the country’s southern neighbor is feeling the brunt of the impact in the form of severely reduced imports, according to Jefferies & Co. analyst Frank Bracken. For the first week of June, Canadian exports logged their lowest weekly level in six-years.

As Canada continues its own struggle to refill gas storage, the country’s southern neighbor is feeling the brunt of the impact in the form of severely reduced imports, according to Jefferies & Co. analyst Frank Bracken. For the first week of June, Canadian exports logged their lowest weekly level in six-years.

Kern River Gas Transmission is sending its 2003 expansion customers a little something extra in its “Thank You” notes for signing up for nearly 900 MMcf/d of new gas transportation capacity to Nevada and California markets from western Wyoming. The company said it is decreasing demand charges by 11.4% for 15-year expansion shippers and by 8.2% for 10-year expansion shippers. The proposed rate reductions reflect the lower interest rates in the final debt refinancing of the expansion, which went into service on May 1.

Kern River Gas Transmission is sending its 2003 expansion customers a little something extra in their “Thank You” notes for signing up for nearly 900 MMcf/d of new gas transportation capacity to Nevada and California markets from western Wyoming. The company said it is decreasing demand charges by 11.4% for 15-year expansion shippers and by 8.2% for 10-year expansion shippers. The proposed rate reductions reflect the lower interest rates in the final debt refinancing of the expansion, which went into service on May 1.