Exits

With low trading volume as traders head for the exits early ahead of the extended holiday weekend, June natural gas futures continued to trade within a tight range Wednesday, ultimately closing at $7.757, down 4.4 cents on the day. The contract, which expires next Tuesday, has dropped 18.7 cents for the week following three consecutive lower closes.

Aquila Inc. tossed overboard a significant amount of excess baggage last Tuesday by exiting a power purchase agreement in Batesville, MS, and terminating another long-term prepaid natural gas supply contract. Both of the deals were a drain on liquidity and exiting them is part of the company’s ongoing repositioning program aimed at getting out of the merchant energy business.

Aquila Inc. tossed overboard a significant amount of excess baggage on Tuesday by exiting a power purchase agreement in Batesville, MS, and terminating another long-term prepaid natural gas supply contract. Both of the deals were a drain on liquidity and exiting them is part of the company’s ongoing repositioning program aimed at getting out of the merchant energy business.

CMS Energy said it completed its exit from the Australian energy industry with the sale of its interests in the Parmelia and Goldfields pipelines in western Australia to the Australian Pipeline Trust for about US$147 million (AU$206 million), or about $2 million more than prior estimates.

CMS Energy said it completed its exit from the Australian energy industry with the sale of its interests in the Parmelia and Goldfields pipelines in western Australia to the Australian Pipeline Trust for about US$147 million (AU$206 million), or about $2 million more than prior estimates.

Aquila Inc. took a major step in its “repositioning” efforts on Monday, reaching agreement with two sureties to discharge the guarantees of four prepaid natural gas supply contracts. Release from the supply contracts, which represent 92% of Aquila’s prepaid gas obligations, lifts a heavy burden off of the Kansas City-based utility as it works to exit its unregulated businesses.

A group led by Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. said last Thursday it withdrew its application with the state of Alaska to build a $6.3 billion Alaska portion of a pipeline to deliver North Slope natural gas to the Lower 48 states. The news was the latest blow to the more than 30-year effort to build a long-line Alaska gas transportation system.

As previewed for several weeks, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. last week emerged from the largest utility bankruptcy in United States history, three years and six days after filing for Chapter 11 protection in the midst of California’s wholesale energy market meltdown of 2000-2001. A last-minute court challenge by two dissident state regulators was rejected two weeks ago by a federal appeals court judge in San Francisco.

As previewed for several weeks, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., San Francisco, on Monday emerged from the largest utility bankruptcy in United States history, three years and six days after filing for Chapter 11 protection in the midst of California’s wholesale energy market meltdown of 2000-2001. A last-minute court challenge by two dissident state regulators was rejected last Friday by a federal appeals court judge in San Francisco.