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Houston skyline watchers should note Transco Tower will berenamed Williams Tower. “The tower is a Houston landmark thatsymbolizes stability and innovation, two qualities that accuratelydefine our business at Williams,” said Cuba Wadlington Jr., generalmanager of Williams’ Transco pipeline system. Williams merged withTransco Energy Co. in 1995 and moved to the tower. Then, WilliamsCommunications Solutions, formerly known as WilTel, moved itsheadquarters there in August 1995. Today, Williams houses itsnational technical resource center at the tower and occupies 39floors. The tower is 64 stories tall and was built in 1982. It isthe tallest building in the United States located outside of adowntown area.

NOVA said a leak discovered in a flange assembly early Thursdayon its North Lateral in eastern Alberta is curtailing up to 500MMcf/d of upstream production. The line usually flows 1.6-1.7Bcf/d, a spokesman said. He estimated the leak will require 24-48hours of repair time, but no schedule has been set.

Defying the conventional wisdom that lower gas demand over aweekend usually causes softer prices, cash prices put on a show ofstrength Friday with nearly all points rising by a nickel or more.An increase of less than a penny in the Henry Hub futures contractprovided little support for the cash market, so sources concludedit must have been the residual effect from Thursday’s screen run-upof nearly a dime that helped push up cash quotes Friday.

After a hectic trading week that saw the June contract tradewithin a choppy, 15-cent range, traders tiptoed through Friday’snatural gas session. A late rally and retreat right before theclose of trading was the only real excitement in an otherwisefeatureless trading landscape. The June contract finished at$2.288, up 0.6 cents for the day and 1.5 cents for the week.

Merger rumors that tweaked the stock prices of Chevron andTexaco have cooled somewhat. While the industry awaits word of adeal (or no deal), observers might consider the words of managementand economics professor Lester Thurow.

With a stunning drilling success Chevron Canada Resources Ltd.has delivered a sharp reminder to skeptics about the natural gaspower north of the U.S. border.

Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK), chairman of the Senate Committee onEnergy and Natural Resources, consolidated several recentlegislative measures and a few new ones into two separate pieces oflegislation last week that could have a wide ranging impact on theexploration and production sector.

The price plunge that had seemed to be gearing up Wednesday cameto a quick halt Thursday as cash quotes were “up a ‘smidge,’ maybea penny or two,” according to a trader doing business in theMidcontinent and Southwest. Sources dragged out the old refrain of”following the screen,” although the tiny upticks in cash laggedfar behind the near-dime increase in the Henry Hub futures contractfor June. Essentially the screen strength arrested a developingbearish trend for cash.

After opening at or near lows for the day, the futures marketrallied higher Thursday, spurred by the confluence of bullishtechnical and fundamental factors. With a 9.1-cent advance, Junebroke through several key resistance levels before eventuallyfinishing at $2.282 for the day. Estimated volume was a healthy76,540.