Made

Adding to late session advances made in both regular and Accesstrading sessions Tuesday, natural gas futures pressed higheryesterday morning as local traders bid the market to fresh highs.However, once above the $3.10 level, the buying dried up openingthe opportunity for an aggressive sell-off that ushered the promptmonth lower in the afternoon. The September contract slipped 2.9cents to $3.03 after notching a $2.995 low.

Continuing the expansion beyond its core utility operations,FirstEnergy Corp. made a splash in the unregulated sector last weekwhen its energy services marketing arm, FirstEnergy Services,announced a management and supply deal with Republic TechnologiesInternational, Inc. (RTI), one of the largest producers of specialbar-quality steel products in the U.S. The deal, which is thelargest service agreement FirstEnergy has ever signed, couldproduce more than $1 billion in commodity and energy service salesover the span of the five-year contract.

NOVA returned to its normal +10/-10% tolerance range for dailyimbalances Friday after having changed the range to +2/-18%Wednesday. The two-day change was made in order to reduce linepackto target levels, which was necessary before proceeding withmaintenance on Schrader Creek Compressor Station, NOVA said.

Continuing the expansion beyond its core utility operations,FirstEnergy Corp. made a splash in the unregulated sector yesterdaywhen its energy services marketing arm, FirstEnergy Services,announced a management and supply deal with Republic TechnologiesInternational, Inc. (RTI), one of the largest producers of specialbar-quality steel products in the U.S. The deal, which is thelargest service agreement FirstEnergy has ever signed, couldproduce more than $1 billion in commodity and energy service salesover the span of the five-year contract.

No major headway was made in resolving the jurisdictionalchallenges associated with the proposed TriState Pipeline projectduring a FERC technical conference on Tuesday, according to a majorsponsor of the project.

The natural gas futures market made it a ‘perfect ten’ yesterdayby trading within a tight 14-cent range for the tenth consecutivetrading session. The August contract showed promise early, racingout to a strong start and posting a $2.239 high. That, however,would be the best the market could do Tuesday. It then wilted underselling pressure in the afternoon. The prompt month finished at$2.198, down 0.9 on the day.

New to the scene as of three months ago, privately held CanadianMidstream Services Ltd. (CMSL) made its first acquisition when itacquired a significant interest in sour natural gas processingfacilities in west central Alberta from Poco Petroleum. Formed inCalgary by four former executives of Pan East Petroleum, which wasbought by Poco in December, CMSL aims to capitalize on assetacquisition opportunities.

Scorching temperatures in the Northeast and Midwest made forexciting times in the power market last week, which also saw therelease of three portions of a nationwide power study that predictsmore excitement ahead.

Sempra Energy Trading made a strategic alliance with MEGMarketing LLC to market energy and energy-related products andservices to municipalities, federal and state government entitiesand major corporations.