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There was to be no rebound Tuesday from holiday weekendsoftness. In fact, price drops got much larger than those on thepreceding Friday. The range of declines was delineated by Stanfielddown only about 15 cents and the California border falling morethan a dollar. Drops ranged about 20 cents to either side of 50cents at a large majority of other points.

McMoRan Exploration Co.’s gas discovery at Eugene Island appearsto be twice as big as expected, and now is expected to recover 100Bcf of natural gas. The well, will be put into production in thesecond quarter by the New Orleans-based company, expects productionto reach 100 MMcf/d by then.

A small decline at the MichCon and Consumers Power, and a largerone at the Southern California border were the only exceptions tothe raging bull market that continued to prevail in cash tradingThursday. Otherwise, average price increases ranged from about 50cents in parts of Louisiana to more than $4 at the Chicagocitygate.

Evergreen Resources, the largest producer in the Raton Basin ofColorado, got a lot larger last week. The company bought 153 Bcf ofcoal-bed methane reserves in the basin from a subsidiary of KansasCity Power & Light for $176 million, or about $1.15/Mcf.

Evergreen Resources, the largest producer in the Raton Basin ofColorado, got a lot larger yesterday. The company bought 153 Bcf ofcoal-bed methane reserves in the basin from a subsidiary of KansasCity Power & Light for $176 million, or about $1.15/Mcf.

Despite the AGA’s report of a much larger-than-expected storageinjection of 72 Bcf last week, there was plenty of otherfundamental news to keep this bull market steaming full speedahead. Prices generally moved 5 to 10 cents higher across the boardwith the largest increases in the Midcontinent and Gulf Coastregions.

Fundamentals began playing a larger role in a rebounding weekendmarket Friday as several sources expressed relief that thepreviously frenetic screen was beginning to calm down.

The cash market turned in another strong performance Tuesday,even with little in the way of either heating or cooling load forsupport.

The other shoe – five times larger than the first – dropped onReliant Energy’s Houston Lighting & Power Co. (HL&P) lastweek in a case that found the utility defrauded three Texas citiesof fees owed for its exclusive right to sell electricity. Adistrict court jury in Houston awarded the three cities $10 millioneach in punitive damages. That’s on top of $4.2 million in actualdamages (about $6 million including interest and attorneys’ fees)awarded two weeks ago.