January

With many areas turning quite mild for early January and some doubt surfacing about the severity of a predicted return of winter storms later this week, cash prices were flat to down about 35 cents Monday. The common range for most declines was between about a dime and a quarter.

NGPL reported receiving notification that there will be no upstream processing at inputs into the Louisiana Line for January. Absent mitigating actions acceptable to the pipeline, effective Jan. 1 until further notice NGPL may not confirm nominations of any gas source for receipt into the Louisiana Line (Segments 23, 24 and 25) that would cause the line’s gas quality blend to exceed 1,050 Btus per cubic foot. See the bulletin board for details.

Andrew Fastow, ex-CFO of Enron Corp., pleaded not guilty Wednesday to more than 78 federal charges against him, including fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice, that prosecutors allege were responsible for the collapse of the giant energy company last December.

Andrew Fastow, ex-CFO of Enron Corp., pleaded not guilty Wednesday to more than 78 federal charges against him, including fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice, that prosecutors allege were responsible for the collapse of the giant energy company last December.

Legislation in New York would ban directional drilling under Lake Erie and Lake Ontario starting in January 2003 to protect the environment along the shoreline, but apparently would not impact the proposed Millennium Pipeline project. A spokeswoman for Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, who sponsored the bill (A11506), said the legislation, however, probably would put a stop to National Fuel’s proposed 500 MMcf/d Northwinds Pipeline if the project sticks with its plan for directional drilling.

Buffalo, NY-based National Fuel Gas Co. said Friday that it has elected Philip C. Ackerman to the position of chairman of the board, effective January 3. Ackerman, who became CEO of National Fuel in October 2001, succeeds Bernard J. Kennedy in both capacities. Ackerman, 57, joined the company in 1968 and has been president of National Fuel since July 1999. In other company action, the board of directors approved payment of a regular quarterly dividend of $0.2525 per share on the company’s common stock. In June 2001, the regular annual dividend was increased by 5.2% to an annual rate of $1.01, which included a special increase of 2 cents in addition to a 3-cent regular increase. These figures reflect the implementation of the company’s two-for-one common stock split on Sept. 7, 2001. The dividend is payable Jan. 15, 2002 to shareholders of record on Dec. 31, 2001. National Fuel is an integrated energy company with $3.4 billion in assets comprised of the following six operating segments: utility, pipeline and storage, exploration and production, international, energy marketing and timber.

Columbia Gulf said a heating value limit of 1,050 Btus per cubic foot on gas tendered to its system, initiated in January, will remain in effect at least until the end of September.

The “unprecedented” high natural gas prices in the three-month period from November 2000 to January 2001 impacted not only natural gas liquids prices, but impacted how liquids were valued, according to a report by the Calgary-based National Energy Board. NEB said that as a result, NGL prices are “expected to continue to be influenced by both oil and gas prices.”

Marking the first quarter of record since the completion of its merger with The Coastal Corp. in January, El Paso Corp. reported that its diluted adjusted earnings rose 41% to $0.96 per share, compared with the company’s first quarter 2000 level of $0.68 per share. The strong results were led by the closure of its merger as well as a strong contribution from its merchant energy group.