Primary

Acting on remand, FERC last Wednesday reinstated a policy of permitting interstate pipelines to limit selective shipper discounts to the primary receipt and delivery points specified in a shipper’s contract (RP00-463-006). At the same time, the natural gas industry signaled that, for the most part, it was satisfied with the agency’s selective discounting policy as is.

Acting on remand, FERC on Wednesday reinstated a policy of permitting interstate pipelines to limit selective shipper discounts to the primary receipt and delivery points specified in a shipper’s contract (RP00-463-006).

Forest Oil Corp. announced Monday it has agreed to acquire a private company whose primary asset is an operated average working interest of 83% in the Buffalo Wallow Field and approximately 33,300 gross acres primarily in Hemphill and Wheeler Counties, TX, including estimated proved reserves of 120 Bcfe with estimated production of 25-30 MMcfe/d.

Sources cited increasing heat levels, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast, as the primary reason for fairly sizeable price rallies Tuesday at a majority of points. Only California, which was under a double-OFO whammy, saw moderate softening, although its depressant effect on western markets in general resulted in flat quotes for San Juan Basin and a few Rockies points.

Natural gas is the fastest growing primary energy source in the world and gas demand is projected to grow by 2.4% per year through 2020 as its share of worldwide energy use shoots up to 25% of the total from its current level of about 20%, said Scott Nauman, gas marketing manager for the Americas at ExxonMobil.

Wheeling, WV-based Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp. has issued two requests for proposals, seeking up to 553 MW of power supply, up to 6.8 Bcf/year of gas supply and complete utilization of Ormet’s substantial demand-side resources and dynamic scheduling, which provides control area and ancillary services. The RFPs are for service starting Jan. 1, 2005. Proposals are due April 8. Ormet uses 542 MW of around-the-clock power at a 99% annual load factor at its Hannibal, OH, plant. It has the ability to reduce load by as much as 480 MW upon a 15-minute notice and is a self supplying customer not tied to a retail supplier. One of Ormet’s RFPs seeks proposals for all or a portion of its power supply and utilization of its demand-side resources. Demand-side proposals can be combined with or separate from the power supply proposals. The RFP also invites suppliers to submit offers for 6.8 Bcf/year of gas supply for its Burnside alumina plant located south of Baton Rouge, LA. In the second RFP, Ormet is soliciting dynamic scheduling to provide control area and ancillary services. The company said it would consider proposals separate from or in conjunction with the first RFP. For additional details, visit Ormet’s web site at www.ormet.com/rfp.

As one of its primary segments among large industrial customers needing energy services, San Diego-based Sempra Energy Solutions announced Thursday it had secured another series of four multi-year, multi-million-dollar merchant energy services contracts with federal facilities in four states — California, Colorado, Florida and Utah — and Puerto Rico. In total, the contracts are estimated to be worth $46.5 million, the company said.

Hot weather throughout most of the U.S. (with the exception of mild conditions in the Upper Midwest) spurred price increases ranging from about a nickel to 15 cents at nearly all points Monday. Continuation of firming numbers was in doubt, however, due to cold fronts in the Midwest and approaching the Northeast, with the one in the Midwest due to push on into the South over the next day or two.

Hype or not, Tropical Storm Claudette was the primary driver behind further moderate advances in the cash market Wednesday. Cold fronts were causing much of the Midwest and Northeast to lose some of the air conditioning load that had kept the regions sweltering earlier in the week, but major heat continued to dominate the weather picture in the West (outside the Pacific Northwest and California coast) and South. The screen wavered on either side of flat before eking out a meager gain of 1.7 cents on the day, and thus had little new influence on cash prices, one trader said.