Orders

May futures drifted lower in uninspired trading Friday as traders struggled to get orders filled and had to adjust to a low-volatility rangebound market. At the close May futures had inched lower 0.8 cent to $4.204 and June fell 0.5 cent to $4.264. In contrast, May crude oil bounded higher by $1.55 to $109.66/bbl.

Pacific Gas & Electric stepped up the intensity of its Operational Flow Orders, issuing a systemwide Stage 3 high-inventory OFO for Saturday carrying penalties of $5/Dth for exceeding a 5% tolerance on positive daily imbalances. Normally PG&E’s high-inventory OFOs are Stage 2 with $1 penalties.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday issued show cause orders in separate investigations, one against failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC, seven affiliates and two former traders, and the other naming Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP). At the same time, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which leveled a complaint against Amaranth Wednesday for attempted manipulation of the natural gas futures market, followed up Thursday with an enforcement action against ETP (see separate story).

Citing its high safety standards and concerns about gas supply in New England, FERC Thursday denied numerous requests for rehearing of two prior orders on the proposed Weaver’s Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Fall River, MA, and KeySpan’s Providence LNG import terminal in Providence, RI. In July, the Commission had conditionally approved the Weaver’s Cove project but had rejected Providence LNG’s application based on safety concerns (see Daily GPI, May 23, 2005).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) has ordered Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC to fix a number of locations along the HubLine pipeline that weren’t buried deep enough in the sub-sea floor of Massachusetts Bay.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) has ordered Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC to fix a number of locations along the HubLine pipeline that weren’t buried deep enough in the sub-sea floor of Massachusetts Bay.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) has ordered Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC to fix a number of locations along the HubLine pipeline that weren’t buried deep enough in the sub-sea floor of Massachusetts Bay.

Separate draft orders were released by FERC last Wednesday approving settlement agreements between FERC staff and Duke Energy Trading and Marketing (DETM) and the Modesto Irrigation District resolving previous allegations of gaming activities on the part of DETM and MID during the California energy crisis of 2000-2001.

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC has denied a petition for review of FERC orders approving East Tennessee Natural Gas Co.’s Patriot Pipeline in the Southeast.