Marching

Canadian natural gas exporters, putting formerly negative currency and price trends behind them, are marching back into positive income and drilling territory, government and industry records show.

Once again marching in lockstep with crude futures, February natural gas pushed higher on Friday. After trading between $9.060 and $9.440, the prompt month ended up settling at $9.280, up 37.5 cents on the day and 48.9 cents higher than the previous Friday’s close.

With Hurricane Rita swirling through the Gulf of Mexico as a “strong hurricane” Friday afternoon, natural gas futures seemed to be marching to the beat of a different drummer. October natural gas explored lower during Friday’s regular session, settling at $12.324, down 46.6 cents on the day, but still $1.18 higher than the previous Friday’s close.

Setting aside court and regulatory appeals, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is marching ahead with plans to emerge from bankruptcy in the second quarter with a lower-rung investment-grade credit rating, executives assured financial analysts Thursday during a conference call on the parent company and utility earnings for 2003.

Setting aside court and regulatory appeals, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is marching ahead with plans to emerge from bankruptcy in the second quarter with a lower-rung investment-grade credit rating, executives assured financial analysts Thursday during a conference call on the parent company and utility earnings for 2003.

It wasn’t difficult to understand why spot prices were going upsharply again Monday when one considers that several new pipelineOFOs related to colder weather joined ongoing OFOs or other systemconstraints (see Transportation Notes). Freezing conditions weresettling into much of the nation’s midsection Monday, with winterstorms expected to penetrate even the Deep South by today. Thepredictable result of such a frigid onslaught was heavy heatingdemand for gas that sent prices higher by about a dime or more onmost pipes. Some points, such as Chicago and Northeast citygatesalong with Upper Midwest deliveries by Northern Natural Gas (demarcand Ventura), achieved gains in excess of 20 cents.

Exxon Mobil launched a new organization structure built on aconcept of eleven separate global businesses designed to allow thecompany to compete more effectively in a changing worldwide energyindustry. Lee Raymond, CEO, said by mid-December the company willannounce a revised forecast of merger benefits that will likelyexceed the $2.8 billion annual level announced last year.

Industry observers shouldn’t be surprised to see Texaco marchingto a different drummer in the industry’s high-stepping mergerparade, Texaco Chairman Peter I. Bijur said last week. Unlike manyof its peers, Texaco appears to be looking outside the upstreamindustry for a merger partner.

Texaco Chairman Peter I. Bijur said industry observers shouldn’tbe surprised to see Texaco marching to a different drummer in theindustry’s high-stepping merger parade