Enough

Colder than last year wasn’t quite cold enough for a number ofLDCs reporting first quarter earnings. While temperatures duringthe first three months of the year were down, earnings weren’t ashigh as they could have been had winter weather been more normal.

Storage overhang isn’t enough to temper the optimism of EnronOil &amp Gas Chairman Forrest Hoglund when it comes to the outlookfor gas this year and next. With demand expected to grow andproduction expected to fall – 3% according to Hoglund – on softdrilling activity, the coming months are shaping up to be good onesfor producers.

Storage overhang isn’t enough to temper the optimism of EnronOil & Gas Chairman Forrest Hoglund when it comes to the outlookfor gas this year and next. With demand expected to grow andproduction expected to fall – 3% by Hoglund’s count – on softdrilling activity, the coming months are shaping up to be good onesfor producers.

Distributed generation and mandates of the Kyoto protocol couldmean great things for gas demand and are reason enough to make theindustry super bullish, according to the Edison ElectricInstitute’s (EEI) Charles Linderman, director of fossil fuels,renewable energy and rail policy.

Six inches of snow in New York wasn’t enough to convince futurestraders to resume the up-trend the American Gas Association storagereport so thoroughly wiped out last week. The April contract movedsharply lower for the third session in a row, closing down 4.2cents to $1.717. Shortly before the close, the contract broke belowwhat was deemed a key support level at $1.70 to post a low of$1.695 for the day. The $1.755 high was reached just after theopening bell.

An Arctic cold front spreading through the nation’s midsectionwas enough to arrest a late December slide in cash prices Tuesday,at least in Eastern markets, which tended to be flat to slightlyhigher. But except for essential flatness at Waha and the PermianBasin, most of the West fell by about a dime or more, topped by adrop of almost 30 cents at Stanfield.

The promise of retail energy marketing, but probably not thecurrent results, seems to be providing enough support to the gasand power marketing community that few have decided to exit thebusiness, according to the results of Benjamin Schlesinger andAssociates’ 12th edition of its Directory of Energy MarketingService Companies.

The natural gas policy options paper, still officially underwraps at FERC, apparently has blown enough of its cover to piquethe interest of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and start the war-drumswithin the industry, according to sources.

Flatness and mild softness dominated the late-April cash marketMonday. Enough heating load was being generated in the Northeastand Midwest to keep citygates and a number of field pointsessentially unchanged from Friday. Most of the downticks of 2-5cents again occurred in the West, where mild temperatures wereprevailing.