February

Houston-area residents served by Reliant Energy Entex will see a 22% reduction in natural gas bills beginning in February, saving customers about $90 million on an annual basis. The reduction follows one last August when the company announced a 19% reduction to save about $100 million on an annual basis. A typical bill for 100 cubic feet that was $83.27 now will be $65.17, reflecting fluctuations in fuel prices. “The price we pay to purchase natural gas has continued to drop in the last several months, and these lower wholesale prices reduce the cost of delivering natural gas,” said Tom Standish, president of Reliant Energy HL&P/Entex.

With a modest 4.1-cent advance and $2.291 close Tuesday, February natural gas futures took another baby step toward what analysts and technicians believe could be the formation of a price bottom. That may seem like a bold prediction considering the overwhelmingly bearish fundamental picture. But after lying dormant during the downward price spiral of 2001, and in consideration of the large speculative short position, bull traders are cautiously rearing their horns once again.

A study done by FERC last February of California power generation plant outages was “not thorough enough” to support its finding that audited companies were not physically withholding power supply to drive up prices in the state, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).

A study done by FERC last February of California power generation plant outages was “not thorough enough” to justify the agency’s conclusion that the companies it audited were not physically withholding power supply to drive up prices in the state, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).

Due to a relatively warm February and “price-induced reductionsin gas demand,” the winter natural gas crisis is not as bad as itcould it be, according to Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI) inits March Natural Gas Stockwatch. With prices back in the $5 areathe question now becomes, where do we go from here?

A mild rally continued Tuesday for end-of-February swing pricesin most markets outside California, where all three major pricingpoints were united for a change in substantial declines.Non-California points generally ranged from flat to more than adime higher, but most of the upticks were less than a dime.

No one can really predict the weather, “but at the rate winteris setting in, by the middle of February we’ll be where we usuallyare in April” in regard to natural gas in storage, according toThomas A. Petrie, chairman of Petrie Parkman & Co. in Denver.

Prices for the last day of February were generally on theupswing Monday, ranging from flat in California to more than a dimehigher at a few Northeast points.

First-of-month swing prices were down from the weekend buthandily above February indexes Monday. As further proof that theaftermarket was getting off to a strong beginning, a marketerreported seeing Henry Hub swing swaps trading at $2.67 while thescreen was at $2.61. “That premium of 6 cents was very strong,” hesaid.