Falling

Online energy trading will reach $3.6 trillion in 2005, fueled primarily by the growth of financial derivatives, according to a new report by Forrester Research. The report predicts several newcomers eventually will catch up to EnronOnline (EOL), the clear e-commerce leader in 2000, but several other independent exchanges could become casualties in the next few years.

All points were falling Monday in the general absence of severewinter weather except in parts of the Upper Midwest. For a change,the softness was relatively consistent; although California onceagain registered declines larger than most at the border and Malin,it was not nearly as out of step with the overall market as itoften had been since March began. Most of Monday’s drops werebetween 10 and 20 cents.

Except for falling San Juan Basin and Malin numbers, prices sawfairly substantial rebounds in post-weekend trading Monday. Coldweather prevailing throughout most of the eastern U.S., highlightedby a potentially severe winter storm developing in the Northeast,plus a large loss of offshore production, were primarilyresponsible for the firmness, sources said.

The swing market kept falling Friday, but outside of continuedtriple-digit plunges in California, the softness was generallymild. The Southwest basins and Rockies joined a few scatteredMidcontinent and Gulf Coast points in declines of about 15 cents ormore, but otherwise the downticks were about a dime or less.

Prices kept falling Wednesday, but the declines wereconsiderably more moderate than the previous day’s plunges.Dollar-plus drops at the Northern California points (Malin andPG&E citygate) were the only remaining vestiges of the marketrout that had appeared to be developing Tuesday. All non-Californiapoints ranged from flat to down about a dollar.

Due to cold weather and falling U.S. production, it is likelythat the oil and gas industry will not be able to refill naturalgas storage for the winter of 2001-2002, according to a LehmanBrothers exploration and production update released last week. Thelow storage levels will likely force gas prices higher for aprolonged period of time, the report stated.

Due to cold weather and falling U.S. production, it is likelythat the oil & gas industry will not be able to refill naturalgas storage for the winter of 2001-2002, according to a LehmanBrothers exploration and production update released yesterday. Thelow storage levels will likely force gas prices higher for aprolonged period of time, the report stated.

Projecting linepack falling beneath its minimum target levelsthrough Friday, Pacific Gas & Electric issued acustomer-specific OFO for today.

Buoyed by falling temperatures and spiking cash prices, theprompt natural gas futures contract did what has become almostsecond nature for the commodity this year as it rumbled to a newall-time high Tuesday. In fact, after a strong opening, the onlyquestion to be answered was which month (December or January) wouldset a new high watermark.