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Swing trading for the last day of November saw prices rising bydouble-digit amounts at nearly every point Monday except in theRockies. The fact that post-holiday temperatures had grownconsiderably colder in the East were a partial factor in theincreases; however, sources said it were the avoidance of payingeven higher November cash-out prices to the pipelines that wasprimarily behind the incremental push higher.

FERC Chairman James J. Hoecker was eager to give thanks lastweek after recently being renominated for a fresh term by PresidentClinton, but Commissioner Vicky Bailey seems burned out and readyto plan her departure.

Despite a leveling off of the general cash market Thursday, inno way did it signify that the recent price slide was coming to anend, sources said. Instead, there was a consensus that weekendnumbers will be performing an ugly swan dive today. Chiefly therewill be the influence of Thursday’s dime-plus screen drop, whichoccurred for the most part after cash business had been completed,several traders said. In addition, quite a few pipelines eitherhave high-linepack OFOs already in place or are expected to issuethem today as storage injection capabilities are highly constrainedon nearly every system. And although it was getting decidedlychillier Thursday in the Midwest and Northeast market areas, theweather still wasn’t cold enough to generate any great amount ofheating load.

GPU Advanced Resources of Reading, PA, and NUI Energy, ofBedminster, NJ, formed a retail marketing alliance that will giveeach company access to the other’s unregulated retail gas andelectric customers. GPU Advanced Resources currently serves about17,000 electric customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, while NUIis active in retail gas customer choice programs in New Jersey,Pennsylvania and Maryland. The alliance is effective immediately.

GPU Advanced Resources of Reading, PA, and NUI Energy, ofBedminster, NJ, formed a retail marketing alliance that will giveeach company access to the other’s unregulated retail gas andelectric customers. GPU Advanced Resources currently serves about17,000 electric customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, while NUIis active in retail gas customer choice programs in New Jersey,Pennsylvania and Maryland. The alliance is effective immediately.

Bolstered by strong cash prices and constructive technicals, thenatural gas futures market bubbled higher yesterday as locals bidprices higher in light Columbus Day trading. And by finishing at$2.825, the November contract fell just a penny short of its $2.835high for the day and several cents below key resistance at the40-day moving average. Estimated volume was light, with just 60,947contracts changing hands.

Following a two day, 18-cent price slide, the natural gasfutures market held its ground yesterday as traders were reluctantto push very far from center ahead of the release of fresh storagedata. The October contract was held to a tight 7-cent tradingrange, finishing 0.1 cents lower at $2.426.

Cash prices rode the continuing tropical storm news and aninitially higher screen to further gains Wednesday, but there weresigns that the big run-up had just about run its course. Mostincreases in the East were between about a nickel and a dime. Whilethat range also held true in much of the West, northern Californiaonce again tended to outpace the general market with dime-or-moreupticks at Malin and the PG&E citygate.

The $2.5 billion acquisition of Poco Petroleums Ltd. of Calgarywould give Houston-based Burlington Resources Inc. (BR) a Canadianpresence and make the gas-focused company the third largest holderof gas reserves in North America. BR already ranks first among U.S.independent producers in terms of proved U.S. reserves. Late Mondaythe companies announced the stock and debt deal.