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After opening at or near lows for the day, the futures marketrallied higher Thursday, spurred by the confluence of bullishtechnical and fundamental factors. With a 9.1-cent advance, Junebroke through several key resistance levels before eventuallyfinishing at $2.282 for the day. Estimated volume was a healthy76,540.

Fulton Cogeneration Associates, a limited partnership owned byCoastal Corp. subsidiaries, acquired the 79.6 MW Rensselaercogeneration plant near Albany, NY, and pertinent contracts fromLG&E Westmoreland Rensselaer, in which LG&E IndustrialSales Corp. and Westmoreland-Rensselaer LP are general partners.

UtiliCorp United’s Aquila Energy signed a deal to supply gas tothe PowerSmith Generation facility near Oklahoma City, OK, Thecontract, which runs into 2004, is for 50 Bcf. “This is another ina series of long-term contracts that we’ve completed in the pastyear where we design unique energy risk migration arrangementsgiven specific independent power plant situations,” said Ed Mills,Aquila president.

The near two-week futures rally from an apparent winter lowcontinued yesterday during the regular trading session helped by amajor winter storm that swept through the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic andNortheast and about a dime rise in cash prices. The April contractbroke through strong resistance and posted a new high of $1.965before backtracking to a low of $1.885 and then rebounding to closethe day up 1.3 cents at $1.941/MMBtu. A less-than-expected storagewithdrawal of 69 Bcf, however, helped push futures down sharplyduring the overnight Access trading session. As of 6:30 p.m. (EST),April was down 4.1 cents from the close to $1.900.

UtiliCorp United’s Aquila Energy signed a deal to supply gas tothe PowerSmith Generation facility near Oklahoma City, OK, Thecontract, which runs into 2004, is for 50 Bcf. “This is another ina series of long-term contracts that we’ve completed in the pastyear where we design unique energy risk migration arrangementsgiven specific independent power plant situations,” said Ed Mills,Aquila president.

A constructive price move near the close of trading Tuesday anda well-bid over-the-counter market Wednesday morning had bullschamping at the bit early yesterday. But by afternoon, forecastscalling for a moderation of the cold weather gripping much of themiddle of the country had begun to filter through the futuresmarket which left prices to trickle lower. Both the December andJanuary contract slipped 4.6 cents, settling at $2.432 and $2.557respectively.

Tejas Natural Gas Liquids, LLC, and Marathon Oil Co. areplanning to build a new gas processing plant near Centerville, LA.The $30 million Neptune Gas Processing Plant initially will handle300 MMcf/d of production delivered from deep-water wells in theGulf of Mexico.

In what has become almost routine lately, the AGA’s report ofstrong injections into storage caused a wave of follow-throughselling Thursday. A lower open allowed the contract to slip beneathsupport to settle at $2.02. In doing so, the July contract fell anadditional 8.6 cents to settle at the contract’s lowest point since1997.

Following a frenetic week of April trading featuring near20-cent price swings and unusually high volume in both futures andcash markets, Monday’s market exhibited a calmness that remindedtraders April is a shoulder month. But, regardless of the smalllosses and lack of excitement generated yesterday, prices are stillat their highest levels since the December bidweek and as much as80 cents above year ago levels.