Going

In light of last Thursday’s 47-cent downward futures correctionand new winter forecasts by the National Weather Service,PaineWebber may have jumped the gun a bit in raising its Henry Hubprice projections late last week by about 15 cents for this yearand next to $3.90 and $3.95, respectively. But the investment firmalready was playing catch-up to Salomon Smith Barney (SSB) and therest of the bullish bunch on Wall Street.

In light of yesterday’s 47-cent downward futures correction,PaineWebber may have jumped the gun a bit in raising its Henry Hubprice projections yesterday by about 15 cents for this year andnext to $3.90 and $3.95, respectively. But the investment firmalready is playing catch-up to Salomon Smith Barney (SSB) and therest of the bullish bunch on Wall Street.

With total electricity sales likely to creep along at a snail’space of 1.2% growth each year over the next five years, picking theright market to set up shop could be the difference between lifeand death for many power marketers and utilities, according to apresentation made last week by Mark J. Bock, senior economist onelectric power from WEFA Inc.

The first of the marketers to bow out of natural gas deregulation in Georgia is going on the offensive almost a year after the company filed for bankruptcy. Peachtree Natural Gas which is still in bankruptcy court, filed a $50 million suit against AGL Resources, Atlanta Gas Light and billing provider Utilipro in the State Court of Fulton County.

The first of the marketers to bow out of the natural gasderegulation era in Georgia is going on the offensive almost a yearafter the company filed for bankruptcy. Peachtree Natural Gas whichis still in bankruptcy court, filed a $50 million suit against AGLResources, Atlanta Gas Light and billing provider Utilipro in theState Court of Fulton County.

All cash points retreated Wednesday within a range of about anickel to 20 cents, with most declines occupying the middle groundat 8-15 cents. Sources attributed the softening to the screen’sweakness a day earlier, a general dearth of cooling load, anddoubts about production risks from downgraded Tropical Storm Debby.

Most of the market “seemed to take a breather” Friday, as oneproducer perceived it, going quietly into the weekend flat tomildly higher. The points experiencing significant declines ofabout a nickel or greater were scattered They included San JuanBasin, Stanfield and Iroquois Zone 2 and were topped by a drop of alittle more than a dime at Malin.

It’s not just the price of natural gas that’s going up; “Growthin natural gas consumption will increase the average marginal valueof pipeline capacity and keep gas prices high throughout theremainder of this decade,” according to a report by Energy andEnvironmental Analysis (EEA).

After being thwarted in repeated attempts to punch through the$4.23 level during the first hour of trading, natural gas bullsturned in their horns Friday, giving way to light sellingthroughout the rest of the session. Limited to an extremely tight,7-cent range for the day, the August contract slipped 1.6 cents tofinish the week at $4.15.