Hours

Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) executives spent nearly two hours Thursday assuaging investment analysts and investors about the strength of the company and its master limited partnership (MLP), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) following two days of pummeling on the stock market that had sent share prices down by as much as 20%.

The Wyoming Interstate Co. system west of Rawlins will be shut down for 16 hours Aug. 14 to upgrade the pipeline to meet new class code requirements. The Overthrust, Questar-WIC, Red Sand, Wapiti and Lost Creek points must be shut in for the duration of the work. A reduced capacity schedule will be coordinated with affected parties for that day, WIC said. Throughout August, the new Medicine Bow Loop will be connected at various locations to the existing Medicine Bow Lateral. No impact to service is anticipated except when Cheyenne Compressor Station is removed from service for one day for construction work, cutting lateral capacity to about 400 MMcf for the day.

What a difference a day can make. Just 24 hours after natural gas prices erupted higher amid a frenzy of short-covering, the bears were back in control Wednesday as they pressured prices to fresh weekly lows. The June contract finished at $4.298, down 35.5 cents on the day but 2 cents above Friday’s close.

Representatives from a dozen merchant generators met with California Gov. Gray Davis for four hours late Wednesday in discusssions that one participant characterized as “cordial and candid,” but the result only reinforced differences between the state and electricity suppliers, whom the governor has characterized as “gougers.” The only clear agreement among the participants was to maintain daily contact with the governor and his staff to keep a dialogue going.

Within hours after Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) announced that it had filed for bankruptcy last Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a series of orders aimed at resolving some of the long-simmering disputes in the out-of-control California wholesale power markets. The big winners were the power marketers and suppliers on the so-called “chargeback” issue, while the California Power Exchange (Cal-PX) and the state’s two troubled utilities suffered some big defeats.

El Paso Energy Corp. completed its $24 billion acquisition of The Coastal Corp. last Monday within hours of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) giving its blessing to the mega-deal, creating the fourth largest energy company in the United States after ExxonMobil, a combined Texaco-Chevron and Enron Corp.

Forget the old nine-to-five, all the action now takes placeafter hours. While that sounds like a seedy radio ad for a happyhour hot spot or club, it is also an apt description of the naturalgas futures market as of late. Wednesday was a perfect example ofthis as prices climbed higher overnight Tuesday and notched a newhigh at $8.80 on the opening of the regular trading sessionWednesday, only to tumble lower for much of the remaining regulartrading session. However, bulls were on the offensive again lastnight as they bid up prices in overnight Access trading once again.As of press time at 7:30 PM (ET), the January contract was at$9.07, 58.5 cents higher than Wednesday’s $8.485 settlement price.

Within hours of a FERC vote yesterday ratifying proposed changesin its interruptible transportation (IT) queue, PG&E GasTransmission Northwest announced new procedures effective today.

IntercontinentalExchange deemed the first week of business for itsB2B electronic over-the-counter precious metals marketplace a success,with “no hours of down time” and “growth in both volume andcustomers.” The online scalable trading system called “The ICE,”traded precious metals spot, forwards and options within its firstweek of service (see Daily GPI, Aug. 25).