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Unocal Corp. announced plans to pick up the remaining 35% of Pure Resources Inc. which it does not already own, offering 0.6527 shares of Unocal common stock for each outstanding share of Pure’s common stock. The transaction is valued at about $400 million based on Unocal’s current share price.

Almost exactly as it did Friday, natural gas futures opened higher, but ultimately tumbled lower Monday as technical factors and scale-up selling dictated the trading action. The August contract finished at $2.947, up 1.4 cents for the day, but more than a nickel below its mid-morning high at $3.00. Volume was heavy with an estimated 108,301 contracts changing hands.

Almost exactly as it did Friday, natural gas futures opened higher, but ultimately tumbled lower Monday as technical factors and scale-up selling dictated the trading action. The August contract finished at $2.947, up 1.4 cents for the day, but more than a nickel below its mid-morning high at $3.00. Volume was heavy with an estimated 108,301 contracts changing hands.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee does not plan to proceed with the Republican nominee for FERC, Joseph T. Kelliher, until the White House taps a Democratic appointee, namely former New Mexico regulator Suedeen Kelly, for the agency, said a spokesman for the committee.

Following on the heels of Wednesday’s dime advances, natural gas futures continued higher Thursday as nervous buyers re-entered the market to cover short positions. Gains were greatest in the prompt month, November, which advanced 5.1 cents to finish at $2.531. Comparatively, the out-months were less impacted by the buying pressure, as the front end of the market was limited to modest gains, while the back end of the market experienced slight losses. Volume was on the high side with 87,773 contracts estimated to have changed hands.

MDU Resources Group, the diversified utility headquartered in Bismarck, ND, said it does not expect to meet its forecasts of $2.30-2.50 per earnings share for this year, and will see “significantly” lower earnings than the predicted $2.60 in 2002 because of the volatility in natural gas prices and a downturn in the economy. Still, MDU said it would stay the course on its long-term goal of an earnings per share growth of 10-12%, as well as a projected 30% increase in combined natural gas and oil production this year.

FERC does not plan to re-schedule the regular bi-monthly meeting that was canceled last week in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., said a spokeswoman for the agency. Instead, its next meeting will be Sept. 26.

FERC does not plan to re-schedule the regular bi-monthly meeting that was canceled this week in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., said a spokeswoman for the agency. Instead, its next meeting will be Sept. 26.

When natural gas prices were sky high a year ago, the “window looked wide open” for the long awaited Alaska natural gas pipe, which would carry supplies from the North Slope to the Lower 48. Months later, however, the announcements from producers are practically nil and President Bush’s energy policy proposal to open up more areas for drilling is barely moving. The abundant North Slope natural gas remains frozen, in more ways than one, and whether it will actually move through a pipe at some point in this decade remain questionable.