Present

Niagara Mohawk Power customers and marketers got an earlyholiday present this month, when Tennessee Gas Pipeline beganservice Dec. 1 on the direct connection from its 200 Line nearCedar Hill, NY to the gas distribution system of Niagara MohawkPower near Albany. The new 2.7-mile lateral has the capacity tosupply the proposed Bethlehem Energy Center being developed nearthe connection site. Stephen C. Beasley, president of TennesseeGas, said the connection offers a “variety of new opportunities forshippers on Tennessee,” and will eliminate rate stacking of coststhrough multiple pipelines.

Following on the heels of gains achieved in the Tuesday eveningAccess trading session and amid buying frenzies both before andafter the release of fresh storage data, natural gas futures spikedsharply yesterday as traders reacquired long positions liquidatedover the past two weeks.

The New England Council and the New England Governors’Conference will present “Winter Fuels Outlook: A National andRegional Perspective” in Boston today, offering insight fromindustry, academic and government officials about the comingmonths. Massachusetts Gov. A. Paul Cellucci, who also chairs theNew England Governors’ Conference, will speak, as well as James T.Brett, CEO, New England Council; Roger Cooper, American GasAssociation; John Felmy, American Petroleum Institute; and MarkRodekohr, Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department ofEnergy. The conference has been called in response to a recentprediction by the DOE that with a “normal” heating season, naturalgas prices likely will increase by as much as 50% this winter.Similar predictions have been made about the cost of heating oil.To learn more about today’s conference, contact David Graves of RDWGroup Inc. at (401) 521-2700, extension 106.

British Gas Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. (BGTTL) may get an earlyChristmas present. It has asked FERC to issue a preliminarydetermination (PD) on Southern LNG’s proposal to recommission itsliquefied natural gas terminal facility at this Wednesday’smeeting. FERC has placed the project on the agenda — so BGTTL ishalf way there — but whether it will issue a PD is quite anothermatter.

British Gas Trinidad and Tobago Ltd. (BGTTL) may get an earlyChristmas present. It has asked FERC to issue a preliminarydetermination (PD) on Southern LNG Inc.’s proposal to recommissionits liquefied natural gas terminal facility at the Dec. 15 regularmeeting. FERC has placed the project on the agenda — so BGTTL ishalfway there — but whether it will issue a PD is quite anothermatter.

With seven scheduled days left in the present legislative session, an amendment aimed at simplifying the assignment process in Georgia’s gas deregulation law is steam-rolling its way through the legislature. House Bill 822 passed through the state House of Representatives with a 164-0 vote last Tuesday, and after a brief stay in the hands of the Senate Finance Committee, it is on its way to the Senate floor for approval.

With seven scheduled days left in the present legislativesession, an amendment aimed at simplifying the assignment processin Georgia’s gas deregulation law is steam-rolling its way throughthe legislature. House Bill 822 passed through the state House ofRepresentatives with a 164-0 vote on Tuesday, and after a briefstay in the hands of the Senate Finance Committee, it is on its wayto the Senate floor for approval.

All the ingredients were present for natural gas futures tocontinue higher yesterday: momentum from last week’s advances,single digit temperatures in much of the West and Midwest and achart gap that was “just waiting to be filled.” But all of thosefactors, plus the official start of winter, were no match for theoverabundance of stored gas. After a brief attempt at last week’shighs the market came under strong selling pressure on Monday. Theprompt January contract slipped 12.7 cents to settle at $1.947.

A decision by the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals giving theSouthern Ute Indian tribe rights and royalties to natural gasproduced on about 200,000 acres in the San Juan Basin of Coloradopotentially could be used as a precedent impacting 2.4 millionacres of producing properties in six Western states, AmocoProduction Co. said last week.