Noted

CIG lifted Tuesday an Operational Warning it had issued in early October due to high load factors and limited storage injection capacity. CIG also noted in early November that the Operational Warning was still in effect (see Daily GPI, Nov. 4).

Pacific Gas & Electric did not extend a systemwide low-inventory OFO on its California Gas Transmission system beyond Friday.

With physical sales of 30.3 Bcf/d in 2Q2008, BP plc easily surpassed all other companies in NGI’s latest survey of North America’s natural gas traders. However, the real news looking forward is just how many 2Q2008 marketers might be absent from the 3Q2008 version of the survey.

House Democratic leaders are trying to hobble together a broad energy bill that satisfies both the pro-drilling and environmental factions of the House. Details of the measure are expected to be unveiled toward the end of the week, as Democrats and Republicans sharpen their rhetoric in preparation for a fierce battle over the issue of offshore oil and natural gas drilling.

Independence Hub in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico is back up to moving 900 MMcf/d after an extended outage that was duly noted by the gas market. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said last Monday that repairs to the Independence Trail pipeline and subsequent testing were successful.

Independence Hub in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico is back up to moving 900 MMcf/d after an extended outage that was duly noted by the gas market. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said Monday that repairs to the Independence Trail pipeline and subsequent testing were successful.

May natural gas futures continued to advance Monday in active trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Short-term traders noted continued upward momentum carrying over from Friday’s gains, and expect the market to work towards higher price objectives. May finished the day up 14.6 cents to $10.733 and June added 16.9 cents to $10.874. May crude oil gained 79 cents to $117.48/bbl, a record close, on geopolitical developments and a weaker dollar.

ANR noted Thursday that weather forecasts in much of its market area for Friday through the upcoming weekend “project temperatures near or below zero degrees Fahrenheit.” In order to preserve system integrity, ANR declared an Extreme Condition that begins Friday until further notice and will lower the “Swing Percentage” (imbalance tolerance) from 10% to 5%. In addition, ANR is not allowing any Unauthorized Overrun service under various rate schedules and will not schedule any Interruptible Park and Lend Service until further notice. See the bulletin board for information on hourly flow rate restrictions.

Natural gas futures rose modestly in light, noncommittal post-holiday trading Wednesday. Traders noted that it was unusually quiet for an options expiration, and in spite of bearish fundamentals no one was willing to aggressively sell the market for fear of getting caught on the wrong side of a weather-driven price advance. Longer-term traders hint at a market bottom.