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Washington attorney Katherine B. Edwards is among the candidatesbeing eyed by the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) to succeedformer President Nicholas J. Bush, who departed the trade grouplast month amid allegations that he defrauded it of more than $2.4million, sources say.

Former Deputy Energy Secretary Elizabeth Moler and Washingtonattorney Katherine B. Edwards have made the list of candidatesbeing considered by the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) tosucceed former President Nicholas J. Bush, who departed last monthamid allegations that he defrauded the trade group out of more than$2.4 million, sources say.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) is deciding whether toorder interim rates, which could lead to a reduction for customersof Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG), which would create what the LDCcalls “a rate case within a rate case.”

The energy industry has begun the “last days of the age of oil,”with a cast of cleaner fuels waiting to take center stage,according to ARCO CEO Mike R. Bowlin.

Without clear fundamental or technical direction, the futuresmarket was left to follow the early lead of cash prices, which wasgenerally softer Friday. Lack of substantial liquidity was also alimiting factor during the abbreviated trading session as manytraders elected to remain on the sidelines. The March contractfinished down 3 cents at $1.807.

The energy industry has begun the “last days of the age of oil,”with a cast of cleaner fuels waiting to take center stage,according to ARCO CEO Mike R. Bowlin.

Adding to double-digit gains achieved Wednesday, the futuresmarket plodded higher Thursday when short-covering activity boostedprices in light, pre-holiday trading. The move left February with atwo-day gain of 16.4 cents, a feat January could not muster duringits entire reign as prompt month.

The Canadian Gas Association’s 1998 demand forecast showsoverall domestic gas consumption increasing nearly 30% over thenext 12 years to 100.7 billion cubic meters in 2010. The industrialsector is expected to enjoy the strongest growth (up 38% over theforecast period), largely driven by increases in power generation.In 2010, the industrial sector will represent 63% of total end-usegas demand in Canada, with consumption pegged at 63 billion cubicmeters. This compares to 45.7 billion cubic meters in 1998.

The energy industry is on the cusp of a series of mega-mergersfollowing last week’s announcement of an historic combination ofExxon and Mobil, according to many observers. Driving theconsolidation, they say, is extremely low commodity prices. Thatreasoning was reinforced last week when gas prices plummeted tohistoric lows for December (see related story this issue).