Natural

The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) saidmember companies plan to complete their Year 2000 (Y2K) computeranalysis, modification and testing by October and will havecontingencies in place should the new millennium bring problems.

Williams announced its Mid-America Pipeline subsidiary willexpand its natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline system in the RockyMountains from 75,000 b/d to 125,000 b/d. The expansion involvesthe construction of a 412-mile pipeline that extends from DaggettCounty in northeast Utah to near Bloomfield, NM. The new line runsparallel to the existing Mid-America system. Construction isscheduled to begin in August, with an initial in service date ofJan. 1, 1999.

The D.C. Court of Appeals last week rejected a challenge bySouthwest Gas Corp. to the capacity-release program of El PasoNatural Gas.

Oneok bought an additional 55% of the Sycamore gathering systemin Carter County, OK, from Continental Natural Gas of Tulsa, OK,giving it 97% of the system. Oneok is operator of the system and amajor producer in the area. “This is a continuation of our strategyof concentrating ownership in areas where we have a growing reservebase to maximize value for our shareholders,” said David Kyle,Oneok COO.

Peace lasted less than two months in the Canadian natural gascommunity. Now comes the hard part of its April 8 agreement onpipeline regulation and competition – thrashing out what it meansin a contest over a small project with big implications.

The June Nymex natural gas contract failed to show thevolatility normally associated with the final trading days of a gascontract by limiting itself to a narrow five cent trading range onTuesday. This tight trading band held June to a slight 0.1 centgain to $2.095.

The dam supporting natural gas futures prices finally burstThursday. After successfully fighting back numerous attempts tofall below major support at $2.11 the last several weeks, the JuneNymex contract succumbed to major selling by funds yesterday, andsettled the day down 10.2 cents to $2.067. Volume was extremelyheavy, with an estimated 93,072 contracts changing hands.

Canadian natural-gas producers have opened up their wallets toshow they mean to make the Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP)live up to its billing as a “seed” development that will sprout agrowing new branch of the industry on the East Coast.

The AGA storage report proved to be an anchor on natural gasfutures prices yet again on Wednesday, as the spot June contractfell 5.2 cents to settle at $2.204. The latest report came in at100 Bcf worth of injections, which increases the surplus versuslast year by 30 Bcf to 403 Bcf. Total estimated volume came in at59,231.