Push

State-by-state regulation is holding back the development of amore competitive U.S. energy economy while other countries alreadyare benefiting from deregulation — something that regulators needto realize, the CEO of UtiliCorp United told energy executivesyesterday.

What do you get when you mix a bull market near its all-timehigh with a potential tropical storm and a large storage refill? Ifyou answered one heck of a 24-hour trading period then you were notalone yesterday as natural gas futures traders experienced atrading day that saw four distinct buying surges and onegut-wrenching sell-off.

Giving it one more try in his last two years in office, AlaskaGov. Tony Knowles expects to introduce legislation this fall thatwould lower the tax barriers for potential stranded natural gasprojects — such as a possible natural gas pipeline — to bringgas from the North Slope to the Lower 48 and gas-to-liquidsfacilities.

Giving it one more try in his last two years in office, AlaskaGov. Tony Knowles expects to introduce legislation this fall thatwould lower the tax barriers for potential stranded natural gasprojects — such as a possible natural gas pipeline — to bringgas from the North Slope to the Lower 48 and gas-to-liquidsfacilities.

Those of a bullish bent found encouragement all around Tuesday:July natural gas futures challenged unprecedented heights whilecrude oil futures edged back above $32/bbl; heat waves challengedelectric grid operators in both the East and West; and priorestimates of this afternoon’s storage report indicated a consensusthat the year-on-year deficit will just keep growing and adding tothe refill challenge.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that San Diego-based SempraEnergy is going to make a full-court press in its nonutilitybusiness units, seeking to get one-third of its earnings from thosebusinesses collectively in less than three years, according to itssoon-to-be CEO Steve Baum, the current president and COO. To hitthe earnings goal, Sempra’s nonutility businesses need to approach$275 million in collective profits, Baum told employees recently.

Better get used to high gas prices, say Lehman Brothers andSalomon Smith Barney, because $3.50/MMBtu is likely to be the normfor a while. In a research note, Robert Morris, Salomon SmithBarney’s energy analyst, said he expects prices to average $3.50during the third quarter and $3.75 during the fourth quarter ofthis year. Meanwhile, Richard Gross, senior vice president ofLehman Brothers Energy Research, said he expects Henry Hub priceswill average $3.30 this year and $3.35 in 2001.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that San Diego-based SempraEnergy is going to make a full-court press in its nonutilitybusiness units, seeking to get one-third of its earnings from thosebusinesses collectively in less than three years, according to itssoon-to-be CEO Steve Baum, the current president and COO. To hitthe earnings goal, Sempra’s nonutility businesses need to approach$275 million in collective profits, Baum told employees recently.

Key Senate Republicans yesterday introduced a broad-basedlegislative package of tax measures and other incentives aimed atspurring the production of crude oil, natural gas and alternativeenergy in the Lower 48 states and Alaska.