Feel

Comparing the surprise Americans felt from the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to the surprise Americans will feel from soaring energy prices, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said last week that his stand-alone natural gas legislation is aimed at bringing energy prices down and alleviating foreign energy reliance.

Comparing the surprise Americans felt from the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to the surprise Americans will feel from soaring energy prices, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said Tuesday that his stand alone natural gas legislation is aimed at bringing energy prices down and alleviating foreign energy reliance.

After testing higher in the morning, May natural gas futures used Monday afternoon to feel its way lower. However, the prompt month was rebuffed by the $6.87 to $6.89 level for the second time in three days, leading May futures to crawl higher to a $6.95 settle, down 4.7 cents.

In abbreviated mark-up sessions the first week of April, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed two “feel good” amendments to increase spending for a federal energy assistance program by 50% effective 2006 and extend Daylight Saving Time by a month at either end. The mark-up was cut short to allow key lawmakers to attend the Pope’s funeral; it will resume on April 12 at 2 p.m.

Old battle lines were being redrawn last week over natural gas research, development and demonstration (RD&D) funding. The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), which represents the nation’s independent gas producers, came out strongly against a proposal by the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) to reinstate interstate pipeline surcharges on transported gas for the purpose of funding RD&D. However, the American Gas Association, which represents gas utilities, told FERC it favors such an approach.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), which represents the nations independent gas producers, came out strongly against a proposal to reinstate interstate pipeline surcharges on transported natural gas for the purpose of funding gas research and development (R&D) by the Gas Technology Institute (GTI). IPAA also said other associations representing major producers and large gas consumers were preparing to file comments with FERC in opposition to GTI’s funding proposal.

Although hot weather fundamentals continued to get a little stronger Friday, they were unable to overcome the negative market influences of the usual slump in industrial load over a weekend combined with the previous day’s bearish storage report and large screen decline.

May 28, 2003

For 2001, gas-rich Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. saw a 21% increase in production volumes and benefited from early-year natural gas prices and favorable hedge positions between February and October 2001. However, the Houston-based company was hit late in the year with credit exposure related to Enron Corp.’s bankruptcy, and combined with other special items, reported overall losses of more than $10 million. For the entire year, however, Cabot set unprecedented income records of $56.7 million, or $1.87 per share, with discretionary cash flow of $231.2 million, or $7.64 per share.