Opened

Chesapeake Utilities Corp.’s propane distribution subsidiary,Sharp Energy, opened a new type of retail energy store in Dover,DE. The Delmarva, DE-based gas and propane distributor will unveilits Sharp Living by Chesapeake store Oct. 2.

Columbia Gas Transmission said it opened a data room to provideinformation on 545 miles of small-diameter gas gathering pipelines,called the CHEWP system, and the Holbrook Storage Field, which has1.5 Bcf of total capacity in northern West Virginia andsouthwestern Pennsylvania. Anyone interested in the assets shouldmake an appointment to visit the data room in Charleston, WVA, bycalling (304) 357-2282.

For the second day in a row the futures market openeddramatically higher en route to posting a $2.08 daily high in thefirst hour of trading. And similar to Wednesday’s topsy-turvysession, no new buying was seen to help lift the May contract overresistance in the $2.07-09 area, which paved the way forprofit-taking activity yesterday afternoon. However in contrast tothe day prior, Thursday’s trading saw a late rally, which buoyedthe market into settlement and put a positive spin on the day’sevents. The May contract finished up 4.5 cents to $2.069.

The futures market gave the impression it was heading higheryesterday when February opened at Tuesday’s high and quickly tradedto $1.85. But the selling dried up, leaving the market vulnerableto light selling for the rest of the session. The February contractclosed down 5.1 cents for the day at $1.77.

Dynegy opened a new $57 million gas liquids fractionationfacility near Lake Charles, LA, that can separate up to 55,000barrels/d of gas liquids into ethane, propane and a butane andnatural gasoline mix. The facility is fed primarily from offshoreproduction in the Gulf of Mexico via pipeline and truck throughDynegy’s Hackberry terminal. Its products are primarily shippedthrough pipeline to customers in the petrochemical/refiningindustry in Lake Charles.

Dynegy opened a new $57 million gas liquids fractionationfacility near Lake Charles, LA, that can separate up to 55,000barrels/d of gas liquids into ethane, propane and a butane andnatural gasoline mix. The facility is fed primarily from offshoreproduction in the Gulf of Mexico via pipeline and truck throughDynegy’s Hackberry terminal. Its products are primarily shippedthrough pipeline to customers in the petrochemical/refiningindustry in Lake Charles.

The futures market opened stronger Wednesday, and looked poisedto remain range-bound ahead of the weekly American Gas Association(AGA) storage report. But a crowd of sellers came out in theafternoon, sending the September contract down 6.8 cents to $1.917.Estimated volume was 83,479.

The futures market opened lower on Thursday, but aftersustaining an initial round of selling, the prompt month managed toclaw its way back up to $1.817, a 0.2 cent decline for the day.That left the September contract still perched just above long term support at $1.78 yesterday, trading within a narrow 4-cent range.Estimated volume registered an unremarkable 40,943.

The recent price spikes and generation outages in the Midwestpower market have opened the door wide for the natural gas industryto capture a greater share of the industrial energy market, says asenior economist.