Intensifies

As sources had predicted a day earlier, the downturn in cashprices got even steeper Thursday, primarily due to the big futuresdrop on the previous afternoon and what was considered by many tobe a rather bearish storage report. A gradual warming trend inseveral regions was not strong enough to prompt significant newcooling load for gas.

CMS Oil & Gas announced last week the start of commercialoperations at the Fort Union Gas Gathering System, one of its mostimportant Powder River Basin assets, and the opening of a newoffice in downtown Denver to manage the company’s activities in thebasin. Gas started flowing through the Fort Union system Sept. 1.

Activity continues to pour from the Powder River Basin, as CMSContinental Natural Gas, a CMS Energy subsidiary, named OkemahConstruction Inc. as the winning bidder to build the NorthernHeader Gas Gathering System. CMS Continental will be the operatorof the new header, which will help increase the accessibility ofthe basin’s coal bed methane gas to main market points. The costwas not disclosed. CMS said the gathering system will beoperational November 1.