Focus

Natural gas futures were higher for the fourth-straight session Wednesday as traders continued to eschew the short side of the market in light of the tropical storm lurking in the Caribbean and another potentially bullish storage report scheduled to be released Thursday. The August contract rallied to close at $5.52, up 1.7 cents for the session and nearly a half-dollar more than its $5.08 bottom of a week ago.

After selling off some of its western Canadian properties earlier this year, Murphy Oil Corp.’s Canadian subsidiary plans to sell more of its northern properties — this time its interests in several Nova Scotian Shelf exploration licenses.

As Canada continues its own struggle to refill gas storage, the country’s southern neighbor is feeling the brunt of the impact in the form of severely reduced imports, according to Jefferies & Co. analyst Frank Bracken. For the first week of June, Canadian exports logged their lowest weekly level in six-years.

Duke Energy said Friday it is discontinuing proprietary trading at its North American merchant energy businesses, Duke Energy North America (DENA) and Duke Energy Merchants, to focus on more profitable businesses.

Duke Energy said Friday it is discontinuing proprietary trading at its North American merchant energy businesses, Duke Energy North America (DENA) and Duke Energy Merchants, to focus on more profitable businesses.

Nicor Inc.’s CEO said Wednesday that over the next few months the company will focus on resolving investigations of its accounting practices and overcharges. It restated nearly four years of financial results this week, dropping its earnings by $20.6 million over the period and lowering 4Q02 profit by 17%.

Nicor Inc.’s CEO said Wednesday that over the next few months the company will focus on resolving investigations of its accounting practices and overcharges. It restated nearly four years of financial results this week, dropping its earnings by $20.6 million over the period and lowering 4Q02 profit by 17%.

May 28, 2003

El Paso Corp. continued its asset sales program Tuesday with its Florida petroleum terminals and tug and barge operations. The Florida assets, which were acquired in the Coastal Corp. merger in 2001, were sold to TransMontaigne Inc. for $155 million, including an estimated $35 million of product inventory value at closing.