Puts

Planning to concentrate on power transmission and distribution,New England Electric System (NEES) said yesterday the time is ripeto test the market for AllEnergy Marketing. The company will lookat all strategic options, including a possible sale. AllEnergy isone of the largest retail energy marketing firms in the Northeast,currently selling gas, fuel oil, propane, and electricity to about125,000 customers.

TransCanada PipeLines has shelved plans to build a 90-mileextension of its mainline system into the southern portion of theNorthwest Territories to tap a major new production area near FortLiard that is estimated to hold 5 Tcf of potential reserves. Thepipeline company said there is not enough producer interest at thistime so the project has been put on indefinite hold. However, themuch larger Mackenzie Delta pipeline project, which would extendabout 1,800 miles to the northwest, is still on the front burner.

TransCanada PipeLines has shelved plans to build a 90-mileextension of its mainline system into the southern portion of theNorthwest Territories to tap a major new production area near FortLiard that is estimated to hold 5 Tcf of potential reserves. Thepipeline company said there is not enough producer interest at thistime so the project has been put on indefinite hold. However, themuch larger Mackenzie Delta pipeline project, which would extendabout 1,800 miles to the northwest, is still on the front burner.

If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute. And that’s exactlywhat the natural gas market will be doing this week followingforecasts calling for the coldest weather of the season togradually move south from Canada over the next couple of days. Buttraders weren’t waiting last Friday as they aggressively coveredshorts and initiated fresh longs in bullish anticipation of thefalling mercury. After gapping up at the open, the January spikedhigher Friday to finish at $2.446, a 16.1-cent advance for the day.

Ending a two-day, 24-cent price slide, natural gas futuresclawed higher yesterday as traders covered shorts ahead of theweekly American Gas Association storage report. However, thatbuying interest came to a sudden halt mid-afternoon Wednesday whenthe National Weather Service issued another bearish weather report.Prices quickly tumbled lower into closing bell, trimming profitsfrom more than a nickel to 1.5 cents before settling at $2.657.

Friday represented the eye of the storm for Georgia’s gasindustry, as Atlanta Gas Light (AGL), the state’s largestdistributor, and Peachtree Natural Gas, the bankrupt supplier to177,000 gas customers, brokered an interim solution to theirproblems at a federal bankruptcy court hearing. The hearing was aresult of an earlier AGL filing with the bankruptcy court, seekingto distribute Peachtree’s customers to other, “more creditworthy”suppliers.

Because of Peachtree Natural Gas’ filing for Chapter 11protection earlier this week, Atlanta Gas Light (AGL) filed amotion Wednesday with the federal bankruptcy court requesting all177,000 Peachtree customers be randomly assigned to more”creditworthy” suppliers, the LDC said yesterday. Peachtree, whichis the third largest marketer in the state, has assured the GeorgiaPublic Service Commission (GPSC) that gas service will continueundisturbed despite the filing, and is pinning its future inGeorgia on a potential suitor to bail it out of its monetarytroubles.

Some Gulf Coast quotes were topping the $3 level Thursday ascash prices resumed climbing after Wednesday’s leveling-off period.Increases ranged from about a nickel in California to more than 15cents at New England citygates and on CNG in Appalachia. A risingfutures screen provided moderate support for cash, but thespreading of colder weather was the chief cause of the price gains,sources said. However, numbers were retreating in several marketsin late deals. A Gulf Coast producer was able to get only $2.90 ina very late Henry Hub trade after the point had been trading in thehigh $2.90s for most of the morning.

Having pulled out of a stall caused by depressed commodityprices, Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. is flying rightagain with 12% return on equity in exploration and production, 15to 20% in gathering and 55 to 60% in natural gas liquids (NGLs),according to one analyst. For Chairman, CEO and gas and oilindustry veteran George P. Mitchell, 80, now might be the time tobail out.