Mixed

Dollar-plus gains at all Northeast citygates and on Dominion in Appalachia were mixed into overall cash spikes Tuesday. Upticks of half a dollar or greater were consistent throughout the East and in the Waha/Permian Basin markets. The rest of the West tended to lag behind but still saw fairly strong advances of about 20-30 cents or so.

It was off to the races again in the Northeast Monday as multi-dollar spikes occurred at most citygates. But such strength was at odds with the general market, which showed a moderate bias to the upside in a mix of averages that ranged to about 20 cents up or down from flat.

The market recorded quite a few small to moderate gains Friday, primarily in the West and Northeast, but most weekend prices ranged from flat to as much as about 20 cents lower. The general softness was attributed to fairly moderate weather in most of the East, typically lower demand over a weekend, and the residual effect of the previous day’s screen plunge.

Three of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, Exxon Mobil (XOM), ChevronTexaco and Royal Dutch/Shell Group, posted third quarter earnings Thursday, with both Exxon and Shell reporting encouraging production results. Meanwhile, ChevronTexaco was blasted off its track with more than $2 billion in charges, including a $1.55 billion write-down against Dynegy Inc., in which it is a 26.5% shareholder (see related story). Meanwhile, independents’ quarterly earnings also are coming in, including Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which upped its fourth quarter and year-end earnings on stronger-than-expected results.

Moody’s Investors Service last week revised the outlooks for Dominion Resources Inc. (Baa1 senior unsecured.) and its gas pipeline subsidiary CNG (A3 senior unsecured) to negative from stable, citing concerns over financial risk from debt-financed growth, particularly at Dominion Energy and Consolidated Natural Gas (CNG). However, the credit rating agency said the outlook remains stable for securities issued by Virginia Electric and Power (A2 senior secured) based upon regulatory support afforded the utility in Virginia through 2007.

Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday revised the outlooks for Dominion Resources Inc. (Baa1 senior unsecured.) and its gas pipeline subsidiary CNG (A3 senior unsecured) to negative from stable, citing concerns over financial risk from debt-financed growth, particularly at Dominion Energy and Consolidated Natural Gas (CNG). However, the credit rating agency said the outlook remains stable for securities issued by Virginia Electric and Power (A2 senior secured) based upon regulatory support afforded the utility in Virginia through 2007.

While many observers, including the Energy Information Administration (EIA), expect natural gas spot prices to continue a downward correction in the near term, consultants at Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI) said they believe the production decline combined with above normal temperatures this summer in key demand regions could spell trouble in the form of a tight marketplace and higher gas prices.

Prices continued to recede along with severe winter weather Wednesday. The declines also continued to grow more consistent across geographical lines. With the exception of a plunge of more than 40 cents at the Florida citygate (which still left it the market’s most expensive point), virtually all other points fell between about a nickel and 15 cents.

Traders found a mixed bag in launching the March aftermarket Thursday. Although swing prices began the month handily above indexes, they were generally flat to end-of-February numbers, but with sizeable variations to both the downside and upside.