Market

Kinder Morgan’s Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America (NGPL) andTexas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) are targeting the market thatwants to move gas east from Chicago with a reciprocal capacitylease arrangement. NGPL says the transportation service can beprovided with only one additional interconnect, so it is far morecost effective than the greenfield projects already proposed whichrequire massive construction.

Market Hub Partners LP (MHP) of Houston is holding an openseason for its Copiah high-deliverability salt cavern storageproject in Copiah County, MS, today through 3 p.m. CDT Friday, May26. The facility will have 3 Bcf of capacity available and willoffer 5- to 15-day withdrawal and 15- to 30-day injection services.Customers will be able to turn capacity up to 18 times per year.Initial services will be available April 2003.

While electric restructuring at the federal level meandersalong, a broad group of industry and consumer organizationsreleased a list last week of 23 principles it believes should beincluded. The group is hoping its efforts might add some urgency tothe legislative process.

The cash market arrested the slide that had been developingTuesday by coming to a near-standstill in price movement Wednesday.Only a few points ranged any further than a penny or so to eitherside of flat.

Demonstrating the volatile nature of the stock market this week,Dynegy’s stock price dropped almost 7% yesterday despite ChuckWatson, CEO of Dynegy, announcing that the company expects firstquarter earnings to be 20% higher than industry estimates.

Citing “significant” market area demand, Florida GasTransmission issued an Overage Alert Day notice, with a 6%tolerance for daily negative imbalances, Wednesday for its segmenteast of Station 12 in north-central Florida. The pipeline willreevaluate conditions this morning before deciding whether toextend the notice.

Marking CMS Energy’s continued emphasis on the liquefied naturalgas (LNG) market, CMS Marketing, Services and Trading (CMS-MST)announced agreements to buy six LNG cargoes for delivery to the CMSTrunkline LNG facility in Lake Charles, LA, last week. Terms of thetransactions were not disclosed.

The cash market, not having much in the way of new influencesother than a large drop in crude oil futures, got quieter Tuesdayin both activity level and price movement. Few points ranged anyfurther than 2-3 cents up or down from flat.

The March swing market continued to roar in like a lionWednesday, and it appeared that many traders are betting it won’tturn into a lamb between now and the end of the month.