Raise

High prices and expectations that the continental market will stay tight to keep prices up have lit a fire under supply development by Canadian natural gas producers. Gas is identified as the target for a 62% majority of a record 18,470 wells projected to be drilled this year by the Canadian industry.

A comprehensive settlement agreement Xcel Energy has reached with Colorado state regulators and consumer advocates will mean higher electricity rates, lower natural gas rates and a reduced rate of return for the utility company. Although there will be a $230,000 decrease in electricity base rates, the drop will be more than offset by a $93.1 million increase in power supply costs, which are passed through to customers.

Burlington Resources Inc. said last week that it is raising its first quarter production guidance and has resumed repurchasing shares of its common stock under an existing $1 billion repurchase authorization.

FERC’s sweeping proposed standard market design (SMD) for U.S. wholesale power markets could result in unnecessary rate increases in Virginia and service interruptions that would not otherwise occur under current market conditions in the state, a new report issued by the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) warns.

In what some shippers see as ironic given the sorry status of the pipeline’s own credit rating, PG&E Gas Transmission Northwest’s (GTN) existing collateral demands on credit-risky customers have raised skepticism from federal regulators and shippers alike in recent weeks. The proposed tougher-than-federally-required credit standards for the pipeline’s shippers have been put on hold by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which wants to hold a technical conference on the issue.

In what some shippers see as ironic given the sorry status of the pipeline’s own credit rating, PG&E Gas Transmission Northwest’s (GTN) existing collateral demands on credit-risky customers have raised skepticism from federal regulators and shippers alike in recent weeks. The proposed tougher-than-federally-required credit standards for the pipeline’s shippers have been put on hold by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which wants to hold a technical conference on the issue.

CMS Energy Corp. will be using natural gas in storage as part of a collateral package to raise $200-$250 million in financing for its main subsidiary, Consumers Energy, to eliminate the need for Consumers Energy to go to the capital markets for the remainder of 2002. Consumers Energy currently has about 95 Bcf of working gas in its underground storage fields.

CMS Energy Corp. will be using natural gas in storage as part of a collateral package to raise $200-$250 million in financing for its main subsidiary, Consumers Energy, to eliminate the need for Consumers Energy to go to the capital markets for the remainder of 2002. Consumers Energy currently has about 95 Bcf of working gas in its underground storage fields.

Natural gas storage injection rates have been more bearish than the market understands, and gas prices may need to fall over the next two months to lead consumers to burn more, according to Lehman Brothers’ energy analyst Thomas Driscoll.