Going

After going live on Dec. 6 with over-the-counter (OTC) trading of UK natural gas on its system, IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) said the new offering is off to a strong start with 115 trades at the National Balancing Point (NBP) hub with volume of 205 million therms.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said Tuesday that Senate action on energy legislation is not going to happen this year, but Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK) remains undeterred.

Energy officials and utilities in California are looking at continued low retail natural gas prices going into and perhaps through the winter, according to state officials, and the current projections of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. How low the prices may be is not projected, but everyone seems confident that there will be no repeat of last winter’s record price spikes amidst the state’s supply and creditworthiness crises.

After going live one year ago, online commodity marketplace IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) reported that more than 250,000 trades have been transacted on its system with a total notional value of over $400 billion. The Atlanta, GA-based company said the first full year of trading for its full spectrum of over-the-counter (OTC) energy and metals products is marked with “impressive levels of liquidity, price transparency and rapidly growing volumes.”

After going live exactly one year ago, online commodity marketplace, IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) reported that more than 250,000 trades have been transacted on its system with a total notional value of over $400 billion. The Atlanta, GA-based company said the first full year of trading for its full spectrum of over-the-counter (OTC) energy and metals products is marked with “impressive levels of liquidity, price transparency and rapidly growing volumes.”

Results aren’t going to be as pretty as had been expected this fiscal year, ending Oct. 31, North Carolina’s Piedmont Natural Gas said, but customers are coming back as gas prices go down, and the distributor is looking for better times ahead.

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), one of the fastest growing electronic commodity marketplaces, is going public with its daily natural gas and power price indices, making them available, free of charge, to anyone that registers at www.intercontinentalexchange.com. The company said its index history is also available.

Results aren’t going to be as pretty as had been expected this fiscal year, ending Oct. 31, North Carolina’s Piedmont Natural Gas said, but customers are coming back as gas prices go down, and the distributor is looking for better times ahead.

Just as it looked like prices were going to make another assault on the $3.00 level, natural gas futures rebounded yesterday morning in a knee-jerk reaction to reports that a tropical storm had formed in the Gulf of Mexico. While market watchers and traders have been mindful all week about a serious low pressure system bringing rains to Florida, few expected it to develop into a tropical system so quickly. The September contract led the price march higher, finishing 11.1 cents stronger at 3.192. The 12-month strip, meanwhile, lagged somewhat, closing 7.8 cents higher at $3.533. Estimated volume was light with just 52,503 contracts changing hands. As of 5 p.m. EDT Thursday Barry was about 315 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the National Weather Service. It was moving toward the northwest at 4 mph and likely to make a gradual turn to a west-northwest track Friday, NWS said, forecasting “some strengthening” of Barry, which was packing a maximum sustained wind of 45 MPH yesterday evening. A tropical storm is labeled a hurricane when sustained winds have reached 74 MPH.