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The price see-saw continued yesterday in the natural gas pit atNymex as traders made quick work of Tuesday’s advance with a latesession sell-off. The August contract was dealt the most severeblow, tumbling 16 cents to finish at $3.884. Estimated volume wasmoderate, with 71,148 contracts changing hands.

The meltdown in weekend prices Friday made at least one traderthink of Chernobyl. A few points fell only a little more than 15cents, but a majority of the declines exceeded 20 cents, andOFO-infested California numbers were down about half a dollar atthe border.

Westcoast Energy said it was notified last week that TRC CapitalCorp. (TRC) made an unsolicited “mini-tender offer” for up to fourmillion of Westcoast’s outstanding common shares at a per shareprice of C$23.50. A ‘mini-tender offer’ is an offer to purchase alimited number of shares of a company’s securities at below currentmarket prices.

Washington Gas Energy Services (WGES) made an alliance withSouthern Company Energy Marketing to bring competitively pricedelectricity to consumers and businesses in Maryland. Southern willprovide wholesale power supply and scheduling services to WGES.

kRoad Ventures LP made a significant investment in HoustonStreetExchange Inc. to finance the online energy trading system’s pondcrossing to Europe. New York City-based kRoad is a global venturecapital fund focused on the infrastructure sector (energy,utilities, water and waste management). kRoad brings tradingliquidity, sector experience and international business networksunique to its limited partners: Vivendi (Europe), Softbank (Asia)and Sithe (North America). kRoad’s investment is the cornerstone ofHoustonStreet’s international initiatives. kRoad, Vivendi andHoustonStreet agreed to structure a strategic partnership toestablish HoustonStreet Europe.

Having made a partnership with the intent of serving the Chicagogas market late last year, Peoples Energy Corp. and Enron’s EnronNorth America Corp. (ENA) moved their attention to the Chicagopower generation market yesterday by announcing a commitment tojointly develop a portfolio of at least 800 MW.

kRoad Ventures LP made a significant investment in HoustonStreetExchange Inc. intended to help HoustonStreet bring online energycommodity trading to Europe.

Led by local buying, the natural gas futures market made twodistinctive thrusts higher Friday, as traders set their sights onresistance at $2.90. However it was not to be and after the secondsurge was thwarted shortly after noon (CST), the market tumbledlower amid light profit taking and position squaring. Oddly, theprompt month April suffered the smallest declines of any contract,slipping 1.1 cents to finish the week at $2.836. By comparison, theMay contract slipped 1.4 cents lower and the 12-month strip gaveback 1.5 cents. Estimated volume was moderate, with 69,063contracts changing hands.

Altra Energy Technologies Inc. and Junot Systems Inc., anenterprise application integration (EAI) solutions provider, madean alliance to provide gas pipelines with Altra Web as astand-alone GISB-compliant web-based electronic bulletin boardsolution. Altra Web provides compliance with GISB requirements anduses the latest in Internet technology.