Loss

Transco said it experienced a 1 Bcf/d production loss from Hurricane Claudette, primarily off of its Central Texas Gathering System, North High Island system and the UTOS interconnect. As a result Transco instituted its Emergency Supply Allocation Process for Tuesday and Wednesday, which will balance all deliveries on the system with the flowing supply available at the corresponding receipt points. Transco said it would not allow make up deliveries nor would it loan shippers gas under its parking and lending service, but it said it would make emergency storage service available to firm shippers on request.

Weighed down by the day-earlier futures loss of nearly 20 cents and with only marginal prospects for further gains in fundamental demand, most of the cash market recorded drops ranging from about a nickel to 20 cents Tuesday. Western points were a bit stronger than the overall market, seeing modest rebounds in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada and flat to barely lower numbers elsewhere.

As a companion to its report on western market manipulation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Wednesday issued broad orders requiring Enron-affiliated companies, Reliant Energy Services Inc. and BP Energy Co. to show cause why they should not be stripped of their market-based authority and/or their blanket gas marketing certificates.

As a companion to its report on western market manipulation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday issued broad orders requiring Enron-affiliated companies, Reliant Energy Services Inc. and BP Energy Co. to show cause why they should not be stripped of their market-based authority and/or their blanket gas marketing certificates.

Saying it was “experiencing significant linepack loss in the middle of the system while withdrawing at maximum rates from all storage fields,” Tennessee issued an OFO Balancing Alert Friday for all LMS-MA Balancing Parties with meters located in Zones 1 through 4 or in Zone 5 upstream of the Checks (Main Line Valves 245 and 321). Penalties of $15/Dth plus the applicable regional daily spot price will be assessed on shippers whose takes exceed the greater of 500 dekatherms or 102% over scheduled quantities. Penalties will not apply to customers who overdeliver into the system or undertake out of the system, Tennessee said.

Consulting firm R.J. Rudden Associates Inc. is conducting a survey of local distribution companies (LDCs) to determine the impact on their business of the demise of large marketing companies since the Enron bankruptcy.

Outside of Rockies numbers plummeting by 40 cents or more, and a smaller San Juan-Blanco loss of a little more than 20 cents, the cash market held up more strongly Friday than some traders had expected. Non-Rockies/San Juan quotes ranged from flat to up nearly a dime, with gains of less than a nickel most common.

Two announcements by Aquila Inc.’s board of directors late Thursday spun the company’s stock to its lowest level in 14 years Friday, ending with a loss of 14% in heavy trading. Shares were off $1.75 and ended the day at $10.50. A year ago, the company — then named UtiliCorp — was trading at $35.55. Investors fled on two announcements: the board is reviewing Aquila’s dividend policy “as a means of addressing concerns relating to its credit ratings”; and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an “informal” data request on the company’s “round-trip” trades.

Deregulation within the U.S. power industry is losing momentum, and to move the country beyond the current “crisis of confidence” to a fully workable, deregulated marketplace, 12 policy and structural changes at a minimum need to be implemented, according to a study released Tuesday by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). The study concluded that the only way for deregulation to move forward is to adopt the game plan used by regions where competition is already in place.