Kicked

After inching higher Monday and Tuesday, natural gas futures kicked it up a notch Wednesday as stronger cash market prices and supportive medium-range weather outlooks paved the way for short-covering by fund traders. The September contract advanced to a new one-week high, gaining 15.5 cents to close at $5.119 for the session. At 63,310, estimated volume was the highest this week, but still relatively light.

Calgary-based Canadian Superior Energy Inc. kicked off a major gas drilling initiative designed to bring in supply from several newly established areas of northwestern and west-central Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. Company President Greg Noval said drilling will begin later this week on 25 wells in the Ladyfern, Chinchaga and Pine Creek areas of Alberta. Further drilling in Alberta will also take place in the Giroux Lake, Windfall, Boundary Lake and Bison Lake areas. In northeastern British Columbia, high-impact exploration is also planned for the Umbach, Altares and Parkland areas, where the company has acquired acreage over the last several months. “The new drilling program is targeting reserve based accumulations of Cretaceous, Jurassic and Devonian natural gas and it is geared toward providing the company with substantial new production volumes at attractive prices, given the recent significant drop in rig utilization and oil field service cost in Western Canada,” Noval said. The multi-well drilling program in Western Canada will complement the company’s strategy of developing large holdings offshore Nova Scotia.

Kern River Gas Transmission last week officially kicked off construction on its $1.2 billion, 900 MMcf/d 2003 expansion project, which received a final certificate from FERC on July 17 (see NGI, July 22 ). The project will more than double Kern River’s current transportation capacity, providing much needed market access for burgeoning gas supplies coming from supply basins in the northern Rocky Mountain region.

Kern River Gas Transmission officially kicked off construction on its $1.2 billion, 900 MMcf/d 2003 expansion project, which received a final certificate from FERC on July 17 (see Daily GPI, July 18). The project will more than double Kern River’s current transportation capacity, providing much needed market access for burgeoning gas supplies coming from supply basins in the northern Rocky Mountain region.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) kicked off National Hurricane Awareness Week on Monday predicting the 2002 Atlantic hurricane (June 1-Nov. 30) season will likely have normal to slightly above normal levels of activity with nine to 13 tropical storms, six to eight hurricanes and two to three major hurricanes (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale ). NOAA officials warned the public not to become complacent following two seasons in which there were no direct hurricane hits on the United States.

Under mounting pressure from Capitol Hill, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has kicked off an investigation into whether the once-powerful Enron Corp. manipulated long-term electricity prices during the energy crisis that rocked California last year. If manipulation is found, FERC Chairman Pat Wood earlier this week said federal regulators or the courts could void some of the long-term forward contracts that the state signed.

The natural gas futures market kicked off 2002 on Wednesday in much of the same way it concluded 2001 — by funneling to new lows amid undeniably bearish fundamentals. Traders didn’t need the release of fresh storage data (pushed back until today at 2 p.m. EST) to tell them that supplies are plentiful. Meanwhile, the downtrend remains intact and the current spate of cold weather is showing signs of moderating. The February contract took the news squarely on the chin, tumbling 10.5 cents to close at $2.465.

IPE Holdings, operator of the London-based International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), kicked off last week by announcing that it has agreed to a recommended all-share takeover offer by U.S.-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), an electronic trading platform for energy and metals commodities.

Williams kicked off its open season last week for shippersinterested in annual firm transportation service produced by theTransco’s Trenton-Woodbury Loop expansion project. the project isexpected to be in service as early as fourth quarter 2002. The openseason will run until 5 p.m. (CST) on Feb. 28.