Fast

For the third session in a row Wednesday, natural gas futures were fast out of the chute as traders pressured the market to a higher opening trade. However, in contrast to Tuesday when prices held strong throughout the session, Wednesday was another down-day on the charts as non-commercial sellers re-entered the fray. The August contract finished at $2.841, down 2.2 cents on the day, and in the lower half of its 16.5-cent trading range.

For the third session in a row Wednesday, natural gas futures were fast out of the chute as traders pressured the market to a higher opening trade. However, in contrast to Tuesday when prices held strong throughout the session, Wednesday was another down-day on the charts as non-commercial sellers re-entered the fray. The August contract finished at $2.841, down 2.2 cents on the day, and in the lower half of its 16.5-cent trading range.

The arrival of a new parent with deep pockets made an immediate difference to Westcoast Energy’s pipeline system in the western Canadian natural gas drilling hot spot of British Columbia. The ink was barely dry on the final agreement for the US$8 billion purchase of Westcoast by Duke Energy Corp. before the newly-appointed president of the resulting Duke Energy Gas Transmission Canada, Bob Reid, gave the green light for a C$338.4 million (US$215 million) expansion project.

In many cases cash prices were coming down Thursday about as fast as they had climbed Wednesday, and at some primarily western points Thursday’s losses were greater than the gains of the day before. A majority of drops were in the range of 30-40 cents, but overall they ran from as small as about 12 cents (Kosci) to nearly half a dollar (Transco Zone 6).

Prices continued to soar Tuesday, as a precursor of winter spread from the Midwest into the Northeast and Southeast market areas. Gains tended to be even stronger than those recorded in Monday’s post-weekend rally, with a majority of points jumping by about half a dollar or more.

The Alaska Highway natural gas pipeline project, which was on the fast track about a year ago as natural gas prices rose, got another boost on Thursday with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between six major American energy companies and three Canadian firms. The companies plan to “immediately” develop a proposal to transport Alaska’s North Slope gas, with plans to deliver a proposal to North Slope producers within six weeks.

The Alaska Highway natural gas pipeline project, which was on the fast track about a year ago as natural gas prices rose, got another boost on Thursday with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between six major American energy companies and three Canadian firms. The companies plan to “immediately” develop a proposal to transport Alaska’s North Slope gas, with plans to deliver a proposal to North Slope producers within six weeks.

Reflecting what is fast becoming an industry trend, Reliant Resources Inc. late last week reported a slight drop in its third quarter 2001 earnings after seeing lower margins in wholesale energy trading and operating losses in retail and European energy operations. However, the company raised its earnings guidance for the year based on expanded wholesale activity and improvements in retail operations.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has announced an accelerated process to develop a standard interconnection agreement to be used by all utilities and regional transmission organizations (RTO) in hooking up generators in the development of an efficient, open access transmission service.