Prices

The impact of the 1.325 Bcf/d Alliance Pipeline and the 1 Bcf/dVector Pipeline on Chicago basis prices will be a lot lesssignificant than some may be expecting, according to several marketobservers speaking at the LDC Forum in Chicago last week.

The impact of the 1.325 Bcf/d Alliance Pipeline and the 1 Bcf/dVector Pipeline on Chicago basis prices will be a lot lesssignificant than some may be expecting, according to several marketobservers speaking at the LDC Forum in Chicago yesterday.

The cash market fell across the board Friday but was hardly amodel of consistency. Declines ranged from barely 2-3 cents atscattered points to more than 20 cents at a few western points;most were between a nickel and about a dime. Activity was describedas quiet.

Spot gas prices quickly rebounded from the long holidayweekend’s overall softness and made large gains across the boardTuesday. Rocky Mountains/San Juan points led the way with gainsranging from about 20 cents to a little more than 60 cents.

Coming at a time when a national plan is gathering more supportas energy prices have escalated at the pump and in homes andbusinesses, the governors of the 30 U.S. oil and gas producingstates have begun their push for an official national energypolicy, offering their own four-pronged strategy.

It’s not just the price of natural gas that’s going up; “Growthin natural gas consumption will increase the average marginal valueof pipeline capacity and keep gas prices high throughout theremainder of this decade,” according to a report by Energy andEnvironmental Analysis (EEA).

After defaulting on multiple contracts last July during a periodof extreme power prices and taking huge losses to make up for theproblem, Cinergy considered getting out of trading entirely.However, it ended up scaling back its national operations to aregional focus and it brought in a large new team of moreexperienced players.

After defaulting on multiple contracts last July during a periodof extreme power prices and taking huge losses to make up for theproblem, Cinergy considered getting out of trading entirely.However, it ended up scaling back its national operations to aregional focus and it brought in a large new team of moreexperienced players.

Natural gas prices again came under selling pressure Monday astraders dealt with below-normal temperatures both outside theirwindows and also in the forecast. After gapping lower at the open,the August contract sifted lower throughout the session and dippedbriefly below key psychological support at $4.00 before closing at$4.002, 14.8 cent lower on the day.