Outlook

The latest Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI) survey of power plant projects indicates that only 19,000 MW of the close to 100,000 MW of projects in the development queues of the New England, New York and PJM ISOs are likely to be completed by 2006.

As sources had predicted, mild softness dominated Thursday’s cash market. Some points were flat, and a large majority registered declines of about a nickel or less. Only a few scattered points saw drops of about a dime or more, and several of those were associated with the Chicago market.

Confronted with a bearish storage situation and a bullish weather outlook, natural gas traders opted to follow the guidance of the latter Thursday as they lifted the market off of a negative close to notch the first positive close for the week. The January contract received the biggest buying boost, shuffling 7 cents higher to close at $2.686. Estimated volume of 90,049 was high considering the extremely-tight, 5-cent trading range.

Despite the downturn in the U.S. economy and the recent drop in natural gas and oil prices, Houston-based El Paso Corp. expects to meet or beat Wall Street’s third quarter earnings estimate, CEO William A. Wise said Thursday. The corporation expects full-year 2001 earnings to total $3.30 per diluted share before non-recurring charges, and meet or exceed First Call’s third quarter estimate of $0.74 a share.

Despite the downturn in the U.S. economy and the recent drop in natural gas and oil prices, Houston-based El Paso Corp. expects to meet or beat Wall Street’s third quarter earnings estimate, CEO William A. Wise said Thursday. The corporation expects full-year 2001 earnings to total $3.30 per diluted share before non-recurring charges, and meet or exceed First Call’s third quarter estimate of $0.74 a share.

“There’s a lot of gloom and doom all around,” commented a Midcontinent marketer. While the downhill slope for cash prices got a bit less steep Wednesday, no one was ready to argue with the marketer’s contention. Except for larger declines in the Rockies and at the PG&E citygate, most of the downticks were a dime or less, compared with overall drops in the teens the day before.

Pending a major change in direction at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), natural gas investors could get an unwanted “coal-inscopy” next month, according to analyst Fred Schultz of Raymond James & Associates Inc. Coal-fired electric generation in the country could expand by up to 40,000 MW.

Pending a major change in direction at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), natural gas investors could get an unwanted “coal-inscopy” next month, according to analyst Fred Schultz of Raymond James & Associates Inc. Coal-fired electric generation in the country could expand by up to 40,000 MW.

KeySpan Corp. (KSE) revealed that it will be taking a $30 million after-tax second quarter charge, or 22 cents per share, against earnings to tie up some recently discovered loose ends on several construction projects of its Roy Kay Companies subsidiary, which it purchased last year. CEO Robert Catell also said the recent declines in gas and power prices have forced a downward revision in full-year results for the company.