Doubt

The cash market remained on its uphill trek at all points Wednesday except for the OFO-devastated PG&E citygate, but price increases continued to get smaller than those earlier in the week. A substantial majority of upticks were between 10 and 20 cents.

Although its $2 billion acquisition of Portland General Electric is in doubt, Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources likes the law passed last Wednesday by the Nevada legislature because it promises to protect Sierra’s two electric utilities from the soaring western wholesale electricity prices that have eroded the finances of California’s two largest utilities.

Although its $2 billion acquisition of Portland General Electric is in doubt, Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources likes the law passed late Wednesday by the Nevada legislature because it promises to protect Sierra’s two electric utilities from the soaring western wholesale electricity prices that have eroded the finances of California’s two largest utilities.

Buoyed by private forecasts that cast doubt on governmentforecasts calling for a warm up, along with several constructivetechnical features, natural gas futures erupted higher yesterdaymorning as weak shorts exited their newly acquired positions. TheFebruary contract finished 77.7 cents higher on the day at $8.966after reaching a high at $9.189.

There’s little doubt that pipeline capacity between the RockyMountain region and the Midcontinent is about to experience asignificant upgrade. In all, three large projects have surfaced,including one formally announced last week by Colorado InterstateGas (CIG).

There’s little doubt that pipeline capacity between the RockyMountain region and the Midcontinent is about to experience asignificant upgrade. In all, three large projects have surfaced,including one formally announced this week by Colorado InterstateGas (CIG).

While Chairman James Hoecker last week expressed doubt FERC could provide any real “immediate” relief to California electric customers, the state’s two largest investor-owned utilities called on the Commission to move quickly to rescue the malfunctioning wholesale power market, saying it could not stand on the sidelines as the nation’s first retail electric experiment teeters on the brink of disaster. (See related report, this issue).

As expected, the cash market used the bullish futures reactionto Wednesday afternoon’s storage report as a springboard foracross-the-board gains of about a dime or more Thursday. But a latescreen retreat, continued lack of cooling load in northern marketareas and the usual dropoff in weekend demand raised doubts aboutany further increases today.

The Powder River Basin, which is known widely for its coal-bedmethane (CBM) gas production, is without a doubt the “most active”onshore basin in the Lower 48, and will likely hold thisdistinction for a long time to come, according to a majorgatherer-processor in the basin.