Outside

With springtime weather abounding in most areas and forecasts of sub-freezing lows rare outside Canada and sections of the Upper Plains near the Canadian border, prices continued to drop in most of the market Monday. Last Friday’s decline of 10.9 cents by April futures further depressed cash prices, and the return of industrial demand from its usual weekend hiatus had virtually no supportive effect.

Who would have guessed? With weather fundamentals mostly moderate outside the Texas-desert Southwest area and starting to diminish in interior California, and futures guidance remaining quite negative after a 15.6-cent loss by the prompt-month contract a day earlier, cash prices sank again at nearly all points Wednesday.

Although no major heat waves were on the weather radar outside the continuing one from the south-central U.S. through the Southwest, modest warming trends in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast and South, along with the previous day’s August futures increase of 8.8 cents, were enough to generate price increases across the board Thursday.

Prices continued to fall at nearly all points Monday as summertime cooling load was fairly light outside the southern third of the U.S. The previous Thursday’s downturn of 18 cents by August futures was a further negative influence on the cash market, and the return of industrial demand from a holiday weekend proved to have essentially no bullish impact.

Dissenting voices both within and outside the state regulatory process got considerably louder recently regarding actions by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) with several billion dollars of impact — a rate case for Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) and an upgrade of the transition to advanced metering for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E). Ironically, at this same meeting the CPUC approved nearly $400,000 in compensation to consumer groups and individuals for contributions they have made in past regulatory cases.

Dissenting voices both within and outside the state regulatory process got considerably louder last Thursday regarding actions by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) with several billion dollars of impact — a rate case for Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) and an upgrade of the transition to advanced metering for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E). Ironically, at this same meeting the CPUC approved nearly $400,000 in compensation to consumer groups and individuals for contributions they have made in past regulatory cases.

Price movement was mixed Monday, but higher quotes clearly outnumbered losses. Heating load was relatively light outside much of the West, leading one source to conclude that cash gains were largely driven by the previous Friday’s 13.2-cent advance by March futures along with an assist from the post-weekend return of industrial demand and modest continuing screen strength Monday morning.

With an outside rescue yet to materialize, SemGroup LP, which filed for bankruptcy in July after announcing $3.2 billion in trading losses, said last week its management is committed to maximizing recoveries for creditors and equity holders, as required by the bankruptcy code.

With an outside rescue yet to materialize, SemGroup LP, which filed for bankruptcy in July after announcing $3.2 billion in trading losses, said Wednesday its management is committed to maximizing recoveries for creditors and equity holders, as required by the bankruptcy code.