Pointing

Pointing out that there is adequate natural gas supply that can come to market with $3.00 wellhead prices, Los Altos, CA-based Altos Management Partners said that it expects natural gas prices during the winter of 2002-2003 to be in the $3.00-3.25/MMbtu range, far below the current Nymex projection.

Even with futures no longer pointing out an upward path, the cash market continued to forge ahead Wednesday with new gains that remained mostly in double digits. As on the day before, a large majority of increases were between about a dime and 15 cents.

Pointing out the potential for market power abuses during this summer’s peak demand periods, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has asked FERC to give it a quick go-ahead to penalize for repeated abuses of market power in the Empire State.

Pointing out the potential for market power abuses during this summer’s peak demand periods, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has asked FERC to give it a quick go-ahead to penalize for repeated abuses of market power in the Empire State.

With politicians and economists pointing fingers in various directions to attach responsibility for California’s electricity problems, the quarterly UCLA business school economic forecast last Thursday predicted a recession for the state, particularly in the north, driven largely by the electricity crisis. A separate analysis by the university and Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) looked at two scenarios, advocating perhaps a different course than the one charted currently by the state.

With politicians and economists pointing fingers in various directions to attach responsibility for California’s electricity problems, the quarterly UCLA business school economic forecast last Thursday predicted a recession for the state, particularly in the north, driven largely by the electricity crisis. A separate analysis by the university and Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) looked at two scenarios, advocating perhaps a different course than the one charted currently by the state.

Besides pointing up an inadequate physical intrastate natural gas transportation infrastructure, the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, has suggested the California Energy Commission (CEC) look into how the regulatory environment may be discouraging electric generators from hooking up to pipelines and distribution systems in the state.

Class-action lawsuits overshadowed the political finger-pointing in California last week as multiple El Paso Energy and Sempra Energy subsidiaries were hit with complaints for alleged conspiracy and price manipulation that led to abnormally high gas prices for consumers.

Class action lawsuits are bidding to overtake politicalfinger-pointing as more prevalent this week in the increasinglymurky California energy landscape. The cities of Los Angeles andLong Beach filed separate class action suits Wednesday in LosAngeles Superior Court against Sempra Energy’s two utilitycompanies and El Paso Natural Gas Co. for allegedly conspiring inthe mid-1990s to block the development of two new interstate gaspipelines into the state, resulting in excessively high prices atthe California-Arizona border. Action by the court is not expectedany time soon, according to Long Beach’s city attorney.