Interrupted

Prices finally interrupted the up-down-up seesaw changes that had dominated Monday-Wednesday trading by continuing to go in the same direction for the most part Thursday for the second day in a row. But they were seeing more softening than the day before, particularly at Midcontinent/Midwest locations.

Prices resumed a mostly moderate climb Monday after having last week’s four-day series of spikes interrupted Friday. Although cold weather was easing a bit after setting date-specific records for low temperatures over the weekend, there was still quite a bit of chill in northern forecasts to keep heating load fairly strong.

Harold J. “Bill” Haynes, former chairman and CEO of Chevron Corp.’s predecessor company Standard Oil Company of California, died Wednesday. He was 83. Haynes interrupted his college studies to join the U.S. Navy during World War II. He then graduated from Texas A&M University and began a 34-year career with Standard Oil. He was named president in 1969 and chairman and CEO in 1974. Haynes retired in 1981. He also spent 28 years as a consultant and adviser to the Bechtel companies, the Bechtel family and Fremont Group, a private investment company. “Bill drove tremendous growth in the company and solidified its preeminent position in the industry by the time of his retirement,” said Chevron CEO Dave O’Reilly. “He left an indelible mark on our company, and our industry, by encouraging open dialogue and challenging conventional thinking. He ushered in a new era of communication between the industry, public and news media on energy issues that was truly trend-setting. I speak for our board of directors and employees in saying we are deeply saddened by his passing.”

Natural gas production from the Independence Hub was interrupted Tuesday to conduct routine maintenance over the next couple of days on the Gulf of Mexico facility, according to the majority owner of the hub.

Prices continued to rise at nearly all points Wednesday, but retreats of up to about 15 cents at a couple of Rockies points interrupted to some extent the meteoric rise that the regional market has seen since its latest crash last Thursday. The 37.7-cent spike by November futures on Tuesday had a lot to do with the cash strength, but it was supplemented by concerns about whether a low-pressure area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) might affect any production and whether a recently identified La Nina event might result in a colder than normal winter.

El Paso Natural Gas customers scored a key victory when FERC rejected a tariff proposal that would have allowed the pipeline to credit shippers with only partial reservation charges in the event a scheduled maintenance kept it from delivering natural gas.

El Paso Natural Gas customers scored a key victory Friday when FERC rejected a tariff proposal that would have allowed the pipeline to credit shippers with only partial reservation charges in the event a scheduled maintenance prevented it from delivering natural gas.

An explosion rocked a portion of Colorado Interstate Gas Co.’s mainline in Colorado Sunday evening, but it did not interrupt natural gas deliveries to the region or cause any injuries, a spokesman for the pipeline said Monday.

Transco alerted shippers that some production possibly could beinterrupted today on the Southeast Louisiana Lateral. The U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers is expected to take about eight hours tocomplete matting of the western bank of the Mississippi River.Transco said it will make every operational effort to keep thiswork from impacting production, but curtailments are possible ifunforeseen events lengthen the operation.