Fresh

Fresh competition has emerged for TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.’sNova gas-gathering grid in Alberta – this time from its neighbor tothe east in Saskatchewan.

Fresh competition has emerged for TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.’sNova gas-gathering grid in Alberta — this time from its neighborto the east in Saskatchewan.

Fresh life is being breathed into a decades-old Canadian visionof a mammoth production and pipeline project to tap Arctic naturalgas reserves. For the first time in nearly a decade, theproduction community, with help from a U.S. producer, is revivingexploration on its formerly most dramatic frontier. A Canadiangovernment auction of drilling rights drew takers for 2,934 squarekilometres (1,132 square miles) of the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort Searegion. Initial work is expected to start within a year. TheNorthwest Territories awarded the rights as four nine-year resourcehunting licences, in exchange for C$183 million (US$122 million) inwork commitments by four producers with a penchant for chasing biggas targets.

Fresh life is being breathed into a decades-old Canadian visionof a mammoth production and pipeline project to tap Arctic naturalgas reserves. For the first time in nearly a decade, theproduction community, with help from a U.S. producer, is revivingexploration on its formerly most dramatic frontier. A Canadiangovernment auction of drilling rights drew takers for 2,934 squarekilometers (1,132 square miles) of the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort Searegion. Initial work is expected to start within a year. TheNorthwest Territories awarded the rights as four nine-year resourcehunting licences, in exchange for C$183 million (US$122 million) inwork commitments by four producers with a penchant for chasing biggas targets.

Fresh from a deal annexing its first natural gas assets, Carolina Power & Light Co. (CP&L) plans to grow considerably by acquiring Florida Progress Corp., parent of Florida Power, for $5.3 billion.

Fresh news means everything in commodities trading and naturalgas traders had their choice of bearish factors to point toyesterday. The one-two combo of the storage surplus and coolerweather put sellers in the driver’s seat once again, and theyreacted swiftly Wednesday evening by pushing the market lower inthe after hours Access trading session. The July contract Thursday,tumbled 10.5 cents to finish at $2.355 in heavy trading.

Fresh off a 5-cent rally in Wednesday night’s Access session thefutures market bulldozed higher yesterday amid light speculativebuying. July finished its first day as the prompt month up 7.2cents to $2.282, after notching a $2.30 high early Thursdayafternoon. Estimated volume was heavy, with 85,664 contractschanging hands.

Fresh after receiving a boost from a hefty storage withdrawalWednesday afternoon, natural gas futures continued higher yesterdayin yet another tumultuous trading session. And for the second dayin a row locals were seen as the catalyst, using buy stops toorchestrate a gap higher opening. But overhead resistance at $1.77held and the market was left to ebb and flow within the 4-centtrading range, which was set in the first hour of trading. TheApril contract finished up 3.9 cents to $1.762.

After a somewhat subdued trading session Tuesday, natural gasfutures sprang back to life Wednesday in a see-saw battle betweenstorage bears and weather bulls. But, when the dust had settled itwas the bulls who took the day, leading one Houston-based trader tosurmise “weather is always king in natural gas.” The prompt Januarycontract settled up 3.8 cents at $1.99 in the regular tradingsession, before adding an additional 4 cents to finish at $2.03 inlast night’s Access session.