Delayed

Ailing NUI Corp. warned Tuesday that it has delayed posting its financial results because of an ongoing internal investigation into its energy trading division, NUI Energy Brokers.

In another delayed reaction to bearish storage data, the natural gas futures market funneled lower for the second straight Friday. However, in contrast to the sustained selling push exhibited on Oct. 17, the market dropped lower all at once Friday, as local traders triggered sell-stop-loss orders.

Conference Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) on Friday postponed a conference vote on the broad energy bill that was scheduled for Tuesday and shelved plans to release a conference report, citing the failure of the House-Senate tax writers to settle their differences on a number of controversial tax items.

Conference Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) on Friday postponed a conference vote on the broad energy bill that was scheduled for Tuesday and scrubbed plans to release the conference report, citing the failure of the House-Senate tax writers to settle their differences on a number of controversial tax items.

After battling through a third quarter that brought a cooler than normal close to summer and numerous asset impairments, many electric utilities posted lower than expected earnings, while few managed to outdo their results from last year.

In a delayed reaction to the bearish storage news released Thursday, the natural gas futures market stair-stepped lower in three distinct selling waves Friday.

The broad-based energy bill being negotiated by House and Senate members of the conference panel may not be finished this year, according to a spokeswoman for the Conference Committee chairman, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM).

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) postponed a conference committee vote on the proposed energy bill, which tentatively had been set for Oct. 3, until after the Senate returns from its recess in mid-October. This could push back Senate and House votes on the energy bill to November.

Following a delayed opening as Nymex observed the tragedy of two years prior, natural gas futures dove lower Thursday as Hurricane Isabel took a turn to the northwest and the Energy Information Administration reported a hefty 97 Bcf weekly storage injection. The October contract dipped to $4.685 in the moments following the 11:15 a.m. ET storage report, but then rebounded to close at $4.738, down 23 cents for the session.