Extended

Pacific Gas & Electric lifted a high-linepack OFO Saturday. However, Southern California Gas extended a similar Overnominations Day notice that had begun Thursday into at least its third day Saturday.

What several sources believe may be an extended period of slow, often featureless and softer cash trading was launched Tuesday with all points on the same falling price page. Trends were more consistent across the entire market, with a large majority of points registering declines from a little less than a dime to about 15 cents. More modest drops tended to occur in non-Permian Basin western markets, while larger losses were recorded in the Northeast.

Adding to gains achieved Monday, natural gas futures extended to new three-day highs yesterday, as traders grappled with the first onslaught of chilly weather across the Midwest and Northeast U.S. The buying pressure was evenly distributed through the trading session, leaving the November contract with a 11.8-cent gain to finish at $2.388. The entirety of the winter strip lagged the prompt month only slightly, advancing 9.2 cents to finish at $2.778.

FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. has extended by two weeks the deadline for an initial decision in the case in which Transwestern Pipeline is alleged to have arranged more lucrative negotiated-rate deals last winter prior to posting available firm transportation capacity to its web site — a move that extracted higher rates and limited the capacity availability for recourse-rate shippers for service to California.

FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. has extended by two weeks the deadline for an initial decision in the case in which Transwestern Pipeline is alleged to have arranged more lucrative negotiated-rate deals last winter prior to posting available firm transportation capacity to its web site — a move that extracted higher rates and limited the capacity availability for recourse-rate shippers for service to California.

The U.S. Coast Guard earlier this week extended its ban on tanker shipments to include a Distrigas liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker into Boston Harbor, saying that the ship will be denied entry until it has provided an “approved safety and security plan and all response agencies are confident that appropriate safety and security measures are in place.”

San Antonio-based Abraxas Petroleum Corp. has extended its share exchange offer for Grey Wolf Exploration Inc. until Sept. 28. A total of 5.9 million shares of Grey Wolf, representing 88% of what Abraxas and its Canadian Abraxas did not own, have now been tendered and taken up, giving Abraxas 94% of the common outstanding shares of Grey Wolf.

Williams has extended the open season on its Kern River natural gas pipeline system through Tuesday (Sept. 18). The open season, originally set to end last Wednesday, seeks binding commitments for seasonal and year-round firm backhaul transportation service from Kern River’s new interconnect near Elberta, UT with Questar Pipeline’s ML No. 104 Project to markets along the Wasatch Front that are upstream of the interconnect, which is scheduled to be completed Nov. 1.

Northern Natural Gas said a planned maintenance outage of its Northrup Compressor Station, affecting 4,000 MMBtu/d, has been extended through Tuesday.