Game

Short-covering was once again the name of the game at Nymex Tuesday as local and commercial traders lifted natural gas futures prices off early session lows and propelled the January contract to its fourth-straight positive close. Traders agreed yesterday’s advance was set in motion by new forecasts that suggest the record-setting warm temperatures across much of the country will soon be coming to an end. By virtue of its 5.6-cent gain and $2.803 settlement, the prompt contract has rallied more than 30 cents off last Wednesday’s $2.491 close.

Volatility was once again the name of the game Monday in the natural gas pit at Nymex, as local traders found it easier to push prices around in a market noticeably void of its once-dominant market-maker, Enron. The exchange last Thursday forbid its floor members to accept an order placed by Enron or its affiliates without written authorization, and since that time the market has experienced volatility that one would not expect considering the lack of fundamental or technical impetus. Rebounding nearly 8 cents from a $2.555 low notched early in the session, the January contract finished at $2.63, down 6.7 cents for the day.

Is the colossal game of financial chicken that has been a major part of the response to California’s lingering energy crisis finally going to play out as the backdrop to the latest initiatives by the governor and his regulatory leaders?

To stay competitively in the game, power plant players of thefuture need to manage a lot of risks: fuel, market, financial andpolitical, which can change almost as quickly as the weather,according to a panel of electric power honchos speaking at lastweek’s Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ CERAWeek 2001 meetingin Houston.

To stay competitively in the game, power plant players of thefuture need to manage a lot of risks: fuel, market, financial andpolitical, which can change almost as quickly as the weather,according to a panel of electric power honchos speaking atyesterday’s Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ CERAWeek 2001meeting in Houston.

Strengthened by its merger with The Coastal Corp. earlier thismonth that made it the fourth largest U.S. energy company, theformer El Paso Energy Corp. unveiled an impressive show of strengthlast week as it began a two-day analysts’ conference in Houston,showcasing a new energy trading floor, new corporate identify anddetails to grow earnings at least 25% in the coming year.

Strengthened by its merger with The Coastal Corp. last week thatmade it the fourth largest U.S. energy company, the former El PasoEnergy Corp. unveiled an impressive show of strength yesterday asit began a two-day analysts’ conference in Houston, showcasing anew energy trading floor, new corporate identify and details togrow earnings at least 25% in the coming year.

Asset sales within the energy industry continue to be the nameof the game as the winter heating season begins to set in. Two ofQuestar Corp.’s subsidiaries are the latest participants, as theyhave entered into agreements to sell working interests in oil andgas producing properties in Oklahoma and northern Texas as well asan Oklahoma gas-gathering system. Chesapeake Energy Corp. hasagreed to acquire the assets from Questar Exploration andProduction and Questar Gas Management for $27 million dollars. Thesale includes working interests in 290 properties with a currentcombined net production of about 4.3 MMcf/d and 180 b/d. Theagreement was effective on the first of this month, and thecompanies hope to close the deal by Dec. 31, 2000. The producingproperties do not have long-term strategic importance to Questar,said Gary Nordloh, president of Questar Exploration and Production.The asset sale will help improve operating efficiency and result inan immediate decrease in Questar’s amortization rate, he added.

Sempra Energy’s subsidiary Sempra Atlantic Gas is taking anotherstep towards becoming the only game in town for gas distributionin Nova Scotia as it prepares for the official ground-breakingceremony for the construction of the distribution system on Oct.27. The ceremony will take place in Dartmouth, NS.