Difference

The arrival of a new parent with deep pockets made an immediate difference to Westcoast Energy’s pipeline system in the western Canadian natural gas drilling hot spot of British Columbia. The ink was barely dry on the final agreement for the US$8 billion purchase of Westcoast by Duke Energy Corp. before the newly-appointed president of the resulting Duke Energy Gas Transmission Canada, Bob Reid, gave the green light for a C$338.4 million (US$215 million) expansion project.

What a difference a year makes for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., still working its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, but facing kinder, gentler wholesale gas and electricity prices. As a result, the San Francisco-based utility began the new year with a retail natural gas price of 39 cents/therm, a 72% drop in commodity costs, noting that for the first time in many months, “prices are beginning to stabilize and are more reflective of natural gas costs during the past five years.”

What a difference a year makes for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., still working its way through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, but facing kinder, gentler wholesale gas and electricity prices. As a result, the San Francisco-based utility begins the New Year with a retail natural gas price of 39 cents/therm, a 72% drop in commodity costs, noting that for the first time in many months, “prices are beginning to stabilize and are more reflective of natural gas costs during the past five years.”

A story that ran in NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index on Sept. 7 titled, “CONSOL CEO Highlights Gas Production, Talks Power,” incorrectly reported the difference between analysts’ estimates of CONSOL Energy earnings and CEO J. Brett Harvey’s guidance for the six month period ending Dec. 31. Harvey told investors last Thursday at the Friedman Billings Ramsey 8th Annual Investor Conference in Washington, DC, that he expects the company to earn about $0.50/share for the six-month period, which is $0.34 below Wall Street estimates of $0.84/share for the six-month transition period ending Dec. 31. NGI regrets the error. In addition, CONSOL Energy issued a correction to its news release on Friday. CONSOL Energy acquired “366 Bcf” rather than “366 MMcf” as originally issued on Thursday.

What a difference a day can make. Just 24 hours after natural gas prices erupted higher amid a frenzy of short-covering, the bears were back in control Wednesday as they pressured prices to fresh weekly lows. The June contract finished at $4.298, down 35.5 cents on the day but 2 cents above Friday’s close.

What a difference a week can make when you are dealing with thevolatility of natural gas futures. As recently as last Friday whenprices carved out a $4.98 low, it appeared that bulls had turned intheir horns and donned their bear coats for the winter. And whynot? Storage injections were picking up, demand was light andtechnicals had turned negative. $4.50 here we come, right?

Lacking little new input from weather or futures, the cashmarket decided to take it easy for the most part Tuesday. Flat toslightly higher pricing dominated in most areas, with most of thelarger gains of about a dime or more occurring at Rockies/San Juanpoints.

What a difference a day can make in trader psychology. The newsof extra El Paso capacity and lack of a PG&E OFO causedCalifornia prices to plummet around a dollar or more in both theswing and bidweek markets Wednesday, while other quotes for thelast day of August were flat to mildly softer in the East andsurprisingly stronger in the Rockies.

What a difference a week can make. After watching helplessly asprices plumbed fresh two and a half months lows last Wednesday,bulls at Nymex were back at the helm yesterday and with the help ofa neutral to slightly bullish storage report were successfuldriving prices up 5.7%. The prompt month experienced it secondstraight advance of more than 20-cents, bubbling 22.7 cents higherto finish at $4.214.