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Perhaps befittingly for the first day of spring, cash prices dropped by double-digit cent amounts across the board Thursday. They were dragged down by forecasts of moderate weather across the southern half of the U.S. and in much of the West, the previous day’s 39-cent dive by April futures, and the extra decline of industrial load associated with a long holiday weekend.

Another signal that Mexico’s Pacific Coast will have a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal, perhaps by 2012, unfolded Monday in Mexico City where a Mexican federal electricity regulator said he expects at least three major international companies to bid on building a 500 MMcf/d LNG facility at Manzanillo, the nation’s busiest port located southwest of Mexico City. Bids are due Feb. 7.

Record cash levels and historically low levels of debt should fuel strong exploration and production (E&P) earnings for the second quarter and perhaps encourage more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) within the energy sector through the rest of the year, but if natural gas prices remain low, producers weighted toward gas may see a slowdown in full-year earnings, according to energy analysts. E&P 2Q2006 earnings announcements will begin in earnest within the next few days.

A congestion study slated to be completed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) before the end of the summer will identify a “watch list” of perhaps 25 to 30 electric transmission “problem areas” and a smaller subset list of those areas “where transmission needs are so large and acute that it is in the national interest to seek near-term solutions,” said Kevin Kolevar, director of the DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, last week.

ConocoPhillips on Wednesday reported that net profit surged in the first quarter, reaching $3.29 billion ($2.34/share), compared with profit of $2.91 billion ($2.05) in 1Q2005. To perhaps inoculate itself from criticism about soaring oil company profits, ConocoPhillips also reported that it reinvested 141% of the net income into developing new resources and its global refining business.

Barring a snap back to cold weather, look for natural gas prices to remain “soft” at around $7/MMBtu and perhaps less for the remainder of the first half of this year, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service said in a 2006 oil and gas trends research note released last week.

Barring a snap back to cold weather, look for natural gas prices to remain “soft” at around $7/MMBtu and perhaps less for the remainder of the first half of this year, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service said in a 2006 oil and gas trends research note released Tuesday.

FERC made the wrong call in disallowing tariff provisions proposed by Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last Tuesday. The utilities had offered a rate designed to recover from two classes of customers cost differentials from additional expenses arising out of the formation and maintenance of the California Independent system Operator (CAISO).

The Gulf Coast, Northeast and most Midwest citygates continued to register price increases going into the weekend. But perhaps in acknowledgement of weakness in weather fundamentals that had been in effect for several days, nearly all Midcontinent and western points were down Friday.