Month

The last of three pilot deregulation programs in Michigan is being launched this month with Michigan Consolidated Gas allowing 75,000 of its customers to sign up to test offers from other gas marketers; and Consumers Energy can’t wait. Consumers announced an aggressive promotional campaign last week with the intent to grab as much of its neighboring LDC’s market as possible. It’s campaign was scheduled to start Jan. 2 with a sponsored Harlem Globetrotters game.

In sharp contrast to the frenzy and volatility during the monthof September, October futures trading has been a model ofcomplacency, where one day’s modest gains are another day’s lossesand narrow trading ranges are the rule rather than the exception.The November contract sputtered lower Monday in an “uneventful”trading session to settle at $2.393. Estimated volume was anextremely light 23,667.

The November contract debuted as the prompt month yesterday byposting modest gains during a quiet trading session that saw nofresh news. November opened lower and quickly tested Monday’s $2.27low, but light commercial buying helped drive the market up 4.5cents to settle at 2.347 for the day. Estimated volume was a modest33,428.

The two major electronic natural gas trading systems havestarted a price war, slashing transaction fees to zero at multiplelocations for the month of September. In late August, Altra EnergyTechnologies announced a “Streamline Inventory Reduction Sale,”reducing prices to 0.001 cent/MMBtu at all its major Louisiana andTexas locations and dropping fees to zero at all of its othertrading points. Soon after, QuickTrade countered by dropping feesto 0.001 cent/MMBtu for day trades at major Louisiana an Texaspoints and Chicago, and cutting costs to zero for day trades at theColumbia Gas pool and the Henry Hub.

Reno, NV, utility Sierra Pacific said beginning this month, itwill offer customers Simple Choice, a package of energy andinfotainment products and services for the home paid for on onebill.

The futures market opened lower on Thursday, but aftersustaining an initial round of selling, the prompt month managed toclaw its way back up to $1.817, a 0.2 cent decline for the day.That left the September contract still perched just above long term support at $1.78 yesterday, trading within a narrow 4-cent range.Estimated volume registered an unremarkable 40,943.

Amoco Energy Co. of Trinidad and Tobago completed an 18-monthproject to increase its gas capacity by 40% to support growingdomestic industrial demand at Point Lisas and Point Fortin. Amocoincreased its ability to provide gas locally to about 700 MMcf/d,primarily due to two successful new wells at the company’s existingFlamboyant structure off the southeast coast of Trinidad.

Marketers lost a battle against LDCs last month when theMichigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) sided with MichiganConsolidated Gas (MichCon) and Consumers Energy in a dispute overfees charged for tracking title to gas that changes hands on theLDCs’ systems. The MPSC found it had no jurisdiction to regulatetitle transfer tracking fees.

Unlike much of last month, when Western markets persistentlydisplayed weakness while their Eastern counterparts were rising, itis the West flexing a bit of price muscle this week. Rockies pipeswere back up into the $1.30s Tuesday after several had made a briefsojourn into sub-$1.30 territory Friday and Monday. The reason forthe rebound mystified one trader. “It’s not that cold in theregion, so go figure,” he said, adding maybe it was just a resultof the normal “tug of war” between gas buyers and sellers.