Numbers

“Where has all the gas gone now?” asked a Houston-based marketerTuesday as April numbers turned upward going into the home stretch ofbidweek. He was starting to encounter some tightness of supplies inthe Gulf Coast and Appalachian production areas that caused prices tobe bid higher. Echoing a producer’s Friday observation (see Daily GPI, March 29), the market suspectedthat reduced drilling budgets last year may be reflected now in afirmer gas market.

Deregulation and competition continue to spark changes inutility company boards, from increased use of stock to compensatedirectors to growing numbers of directors from the financial fieldto greater frequency of board meetings. These are key findings inthe just-released fourth annual Spencer Stuart Utility Board Index(UI) report, which analyzes the proxy statements of 50 leadingutility companies nationwide. The report focuses on membership andpractices of the nation’s utility boards, and this year highlightsthat many utility boards are becoming more like their counterpartsat Standard &amp Poor 500 companies.

Cash numbers ranged from flat to just over a nickel higher at afew points Thursday, and sources were nearly unanimous inattributing the upticks mostly to the example set by the Henry Hubfutures contract. In turn, they thought the screen strength derivedfrom the fairly hefty 203 Bcf figure in AGA’s Wednesday afternoonreport on storage withdrawals last week.

Traders had to think about the unthinkable Friday: Gulf Coastgas trading for less than a dollar. A large number of points inLouisiana and Texas averaged in the $0.90s, and in a few caseslow-end quotes slipped into the high $0.80s. Few markets fared muchabove a dollar other than California, Sumas, Stanfield andColumbia-Appalachia.

U.S. energy marketing companies seem to be overlooking asuccessful method of drawing in vast numbers of retail customers.”Affinity” marketing, which involves striking exclusive allianceswith large organizations and companies to offer services to theirmembers and employees, is a marketing method that has proved quitesuccessful in the United Kingdom but largely has been untried inthe U.S., New York-based Datamonitor said in a new study.

Sempra Energy said the third quarter volume numbers it submittedto be included in NGI’s North American gas marketer ranking wereincorrect. The 3.1 Bcf/d first reported by Sempra excluded therecent acquisition of CNG Energy’s wholesale gas marketingportfolio. The corrected number is 4.5 Bcf/d of gas sold during thethird quarter, which is a 52% increase from 3Q97 and puts Sempra atNo. 12 in the ranking rather than No. 20. KN Energy, Columbia,Tractebel, Texaco, Sonat, El Paso, Williams and Enserch move down anotch because of the change. (Please see NGI or Daily GPI,11/9/98).

The American Gas Association(AGA) predicts additions to domesticproved gas reserves last year will come out between 96% and 120% ofproduction. “The indication of strong 1997 reserves replacementcomes at a time when long-term natural gas growth is expected toreach 30 Tcf by 2015,” said Chris McGill, director of gas supplyand statistics at AGA. “To meet the requirements of robust growthin gas markets, annual additions to gas reserves through drillingmust also remain strong, balancing new sources of natural gas withdomestic production each year.”

May baseload prices were tanking on the last morning of tradingThursday, and May swing numbers for either the 1st only or 1st-4thwere “really pathetic,” as a Midcontinent marketer so delicatelyput it. The plunging June futures screen was an obvious drag oncash trading. The early weakness of the May aftermarket confoundedmany who in late April had been expecting incremental prices torise above bidweek levels.

Cash numbers were softening as expected Thursday, following theprompt of the futures screen’s late downturn Wednesday. But itlooks like it’s already time to reverse field again and head upwardtoday based on the screen’s strong gain Thursday, sources said.