Enduring

After enduring major supply shortfalls late last week that resulted in service curtailments for some downstream customers, El Paso did a complete turnabout during the weekend. It declared a change to normal pack condition Saturday morning and then said the situation had graduated to a high pack condition late that afternoon, where it remained Monday. El Paso was suspending all Park services and imbalance paybacks to the pipe until further notice. Maximum withdrawals from Washington Ranch storage field last week had changed into maximum injections by late Saturday night. El Paso appealed for assistance from “any customer [who] can voluntarily take more gas or reduce some supply for a period of time.” A force majeure and emergency Critical Operating Condition implemented during the cold weather last week had been canceled Saturday and were not replaced by any similar actions related to the new high-linepack situation.

Energy Transfer Partners LP will construct two pipelines in support of new long-term agreements to provide transportation services from the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. The pipelines will expand the partnership’s existing midstream infrastructure in the region, Dallas-based Energy Transfer said Monday.

Enduring the tough economic climate that all utilities have faced over the last year, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) was a bright spot on Thursday as the Newark, NJ-based electricity and natural gas distributor and electricity generator reported income from continuing operations for 4Q2009 of $349 million (69 cents/share), up 47% from the $237 million (46 cents/share) that the company posted in 4Q2008.

Enduring the tough economic climate that all utilities have faced over the last year, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) was a bright spot on Thursday as the Newark, NJ-based electricity and natural gas distributor and electricity generator reported income from continuing operations for 4Q2009 of $349 million (69 cents/share), up 47% from the $237 million (46 cents/share) that the company posted in 4Q2008.

With the Rockies, Upper Plains, Northeast and much of Canada still enduring freezing lows and some sections of the South along most of the Midwest due to rejoin them by early this week, only a tiny loss at the Florida citygate averted an across-the-board run of rising prices Friday. Thursday’s futures increase of 11.9 cents provided further backing for the spot market.

Enduring an unpredictable week of violent storms, heat waves and the rollercoaster-like antics of the natural gas futures market, cash points on Friday moved in lockstep lower, with most points shedding just a few pennies up to 15 cents.

After enduring a fast and furious first three days of trading for the week that resulted in a $1.432 drop, traders appeared to seize the opportunity on Thursday and Friday to expand one of the last weekends of the summer. Following a slow Thursday, the activity Friday once again was lethargic as the September natural gas futures contract closed at $5.523, down 9.9 cents on the day, and $1.487 lower than the previous Friday’s close.

After enduring an ill-fated Tuesday morning rally to a high of $7.065, April natural gas futures reversed direction in the afternoon to record a $6.885 low before settling at $6.892, down two pennies on the day. Despite the second consecutive sub-$7 settle, some market experts warned that the recent trading behavior, combined with the potential for supportive crude and gas inventory reports over the next two days, could mean that the bulls aren’t out to pasture just yet.

Despite enduring a topsy-turvy week of large swings in both directions, March natural gas futures finished the week within shouting distance of where they began. After hitting a high of $8.650 late in the afternoon, the prompt month settled at $8.613, up 26.6 cents on the day and 10.6 cents higher than the contract’s previous-week close.