Indications

Calling the blasts on the El Paso Natural Gas and Olympic PipeLine systems the “most visible indications of a serious, long-termproblem,” Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-MN) introduced pipeline safetylegislation this week in the House that he says takes a tougherstance against natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines than theSenate measure passed last month.

After years of struggling in recent years to make ends meet in the exploration and production business and indications last December that it was examining alternatives, Enron finally decided to call it quits last week and cut its ties to its production subsidiary, Enron Oil & Gas (EOG). The announced plan would establish EOG as a widely held public company that will be independent of Enron. Analysts and industry personnel applauded the deal, pointing to divergent corporate strategies.

All indications pointed to the futures market continuing higheron Wednesday: gains posted in the Tuesday evening Access session, awell bid over the counter market Wednesday morning, and inertiacoming off two days of advances. But when the market openedyesterday a vital component was missing, prompting a beleagueredbull to say “the buyers just didn’t show up [Wednesday] morning.”The September contract meandered down from its open, slipping 2.2cents to close at $2.873.