Failure

After extending as high as $3.14 in early morning over-the-counter Access trade, natural gas futures tumbled lower Thursday as fresh longs headed for the exits ahead of what is shaping up to be a volatile options expiration today. The November contract opened at $3.05, but came under heavy selling pressure about mid-morning Thursday after it was evident the contract had no chance of rebounding to levels seen hours earlier in the computer-only Access trading session. November finished the day at $2.938, more than 20 cents off its Access high but down only 4.3 cents for the session.

With the failure of the state to agree on a rescue plan to restore Southern California Edison’s financial viability, rumors last week grew louder that three of the major generators who are creditors would take the utility into involuntary bankruptcy.

Almost a month and a half after being kicked out of Columbia Gas of Ohio’s Customer Choice program for failure to deliver gas to its customers in August, Ohio marketer Energy Max has found itself at the epicenter of a complaint lodged by the Ohio Consumers Council (OCC) in the interests of the marketer’s customers.

Almost a month and a half after being excommunicated fromColumbia Gas of Ohio’s Customer Choice program for failure todeliver gas to its customers in August, Ohio marketer Energy Maxhas found itself at the epicenter of a complaint lodged by the OhioConsumers Council (OCC) in the interests of the marketer’scustomers.

Williams declared force majeure Tuesday following a compressorunit failure at Ogallah (KS) Station, saying it had to reduce LineSegment 490 capacity by about 10,000 Dth/d. It anticipated repairswould take three to four days.

Columbia Gas of Ohio said it had no other choice but toterminate Energy Max of Northeast Ohio from participation in itsCustomer Choice program after the gas supplier failed to delivergas to Columbia for transportation to Energy Max’s 8,000 OhioChoice customers for the majority of August. As supplier of lastresort, Columbia picked up the slack using its own natural gassupply.

Columbia Gas of Ohio said it had no other choice but toterminate Energy Max of Northeast Ohio from participation in itsCustomer Choice program after the gas supplier failed to delivergas to Columbia for transportation to Energy Max’s 8,000 OhioChoice customers for the majority of August. As supplier of lastresort, Columbia picked up the slack using its own natural gassupply.

The #1 compressor at Roswell (NM) Station became unavailableFriday due to a bearing failure, causing a 30 MMcf/d reduction inSan Juan Crossover capacity, El Paso said. Repairs were expected tohave been completed Saturday.

PENNSAFE, a division of Pennsylvania’s Dept. of Labor andIndustry, has filed a complaint in district court against EquitableGas Co., citing the failure of the utility to accurately mark itsline which resulted in the death of a McKeesport, PA, woman.