Amid muddled fundamentals and a rapidly improving technical situation, natural gas futures reversed direction Wednesday as local traders used Tuesday’s retracement as a springboard to new eight-week highs. A 10.8-cent gain in the September contract was trumped by an 11.3-cent rise in the October contract. The two months, which constitute the end of the seven-month summer strip and storage injection season, finished at $3.274 and $3.339 respectively. The only non-bullish factor Wednesday was estimated volume, which at 95,733 was a little on the low side.
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CEO: Dynegy’s Restructuring on Track, Wholesale Business Now Priority
Dynegy Inc.’s restructuring is on schedule, liquidity is improving, and investors are slowly showing a little more faith. Now, management wants to stabilize the once prosperous marketing and trading unit, and will disregard those who believe the energy merchant sector has been wiped out. “It’s awfully easy to get in a doom-and-gloom mood,” interim CEO Dan Dienstbier said Tuesday. “But I’m not pessimistic in our ability to complete our plan and move forward…Sometimes, you have to go home and say, ‘Hey, get a grip…This is a good, solid company, and we intend to be here when it is all sorted out.'”
EIA Notes Rising Gas Prices; Oil Situation Uncertain; Cool Summer for Power
Rising oil prices, a relatively cooler March and April, an improving economic picture and a production decrease all contributed to higher than expected natural gas prices over the past few months, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook released last Monday.
DOE Unveils Gas Storage, Transportation R&D Projects
The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced several new projects aimed at expanding future approaches for storing natural gas, improving gas transportation and pipeline reliability and integrity.
CA AG Vows Closer Scrutiny of Mergers
Improving crude oil market conditions usually are accompanied byincreasing political scrutiny into rising prices. A good example ofthat is occurring in California where Attorney General Bill Lockyerhas vowed to probe deeply into the mergers of major oil and gasproducers following a report that shows consolidation is one of thereasons California has experienced some of the highest gasolineprice spikes in the nation.
Sour Gas Drilling Near Calgary Approved
At the cost of a long fight and new orders to work overtime onimproving their community relations, Canadian producers have won avictory preserving access to a major drilling target: “sour”natural gas, laced with lethal hydrogen-sulphide.
Sour Gas Drilling Near Calgary Approved
At the cost of a long fight and new orders to work overtime onimproving their community relations, Canadian producers have won avictory preserving access to a major drilling target: “sour”natural gas, laced with lethal hydrogen-sulphide.
Coastal Avoids 2Q Pitfalls, Posts Record Earnings
Coastal Corp. was able to buck the trend of poor second quarterearnings by improving refining margins, increasing its gasproduction 22% to 526 MMcf/d and raising its crude oil andcondensate production by 50% to18,063 b/d. The company reportedsecond quarter earnings of $94.6 million, or 43 cents per share, up23% (on a per share basis) from 2Q97 earnings of $79.3 million, 35cents/share.