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In a topsy-turvy session that made traders glad the weekend wasnear, natural gas futures spiked and retraced three times Fridayamid a bevy of fundamental and technical news. After encounteringsubstantial selling in the low $6.80s early in the day, the Januarycontract checked sideways for much of the session, finishing up 8.4cents at $6.673. Comparatively the rest of the 12-month strip, ledby March, which erupted 20.7 cents to close at $6.043, experienceddouble-digit gains.

Based on recent and near-term acquisitions, Alberta EnergyCompany Ltd., (AEC) has upped cash flow projections for itsmidstream business for 2000 from the original estimate of C$145million to over C$165 million. The company also expects itsmidstream’s forecasted cash flow for the year 2001 to be C$230million, double its performance in 1999.

Based on recent and near-term acquisitions, Alberta EnergyCompany Ltd., (AEC) has upped cash flow projections for itsmidstream business for 2000 from the original estimate of C$145million to over C$165 million.

Transwestern extended through at least Saturday the force majeureassociated with a freight train derailment near its mainline innorthwest new Mexico (see Daily GPI, Nov. 2). The derailed cars have beenremoved but harsh weather delayed the start of pipe inspection untilFriday, a spokeswoman said. Crews were hoping to restore servicebetween Stations 5 and 6 Sunday, she said. A capacity constraintremained in effect going into the weekend, but it had been reducedfrom 400,000 MMBtu/d to 300,000 MMBtu/d.

Transwestern declared force majeure after a freight trainderailed near its mainline in northwest New Mexico. The derailmentoccurred Sunday afternoon but the pipeline did not learn about ituntil Monday morning, according to a spokeswoman. As a precaution,Transwestern immediately took the line out of service betweenStations 5 (Thoreau) and 6 (Laguna). Westbound deliveries from theEast of Thoreau area and eastbound deliveries from San Juan Basinhave been suspended until further notice, affecting about 400,000MMBtu/d, the pipeline said. The line will be inspected and returnedto service once the train cars have been removed, which wasexpected to be completed by late Tuesday afternoon.

With gas prices near $5/MMBtu, oil above $30/bbl and powerprices spiking 700% in Southern California this summer, the signsof struggle in the energy sector are clear. It’s the requiredresponse that still seems a little cloudy.

With gas prices near $5/MMBtu, oil above $30/bbl and powerprices spiking 700% in Southern California this summer, the signsof struggle in the energy sector are clear. It’s the requiredresponse that still seems a little cloudy.

The simmering pot of market concerns regarding the market power of EnronOnline finally boiled over in public at last week’s LDC Forum near Chicago.

What do you get when you mix a bull market near its all-timehigh with a potential tropical storm and a large storage refill? Ifyou answered one heck of a 24-hour trading period then you were notalone yesterday as natural gas futures traders experienced atrading day that saw four distinct buying surges and onegut-wrenching sell-off.