Range

Coming in below historical levels, but still within the range of industry estimates, the Energy Information Administration reported Thursday morning that 69 Bcf was injected into underground natural gas storage for the week ended Sept. 24. November natural gas futures closed at $6.795, down 11.6 cents on the day.

Westcoast restored its normal 10% pack/10% draft imbalance tolerance range Thursday after having set it at zero/20% and then 5%/15% previously to encourage drafting of the system because of high linepack.

Williams on Monday set the terms for a $1.1 billion tender offer as part of a long-range plan to trim $4 billion of its $11.3 billion debt by the end of 2005.

Signaling a rise in linepack, Westcoast changed its imbalance tolerance range Sunday to 5% pack and 15% draft.

Slight moderating trends in winter weather, weak futures and lessened industrial load over a weekend combined to send prices lower at nearly all points Friday.

Range Resources said its proved reserves rose 18% to 685 Bcfe last year, including 486 Bcf of gas and 33 million barrels of oil and gas liquids. Discoveries and extensions added 69 Bcfe, about 90 Bcfe were acquired and upward revisions added 7 Bcfe, bringing the total increase for the year to 166 Bcfe. The increase was offset by 58 Bcfe of production and the sale of 1 Bcfe of reserves. The pretax present value of the company’s proved reserves at year-end, based on constant prices and costs and discounted at 10% rose to $1.4 billion, representing a 45% increase during the year. The valuation was based on year-end Nymex prices of $6.19/MMBtu and $32.52/bbl, compared to $4.75/MMBtu and $31.17/bbl a year earlier. The company replaced 286% of production in 2003, including 130% from drilling and revisions and 156% from acquisitions. Excluding the impact of price increases, reserve replacement would have been 271%. Total anticipated finding costs in 2003 averaged $1.26/Mcfe.

After nudging higher in back-to-back range-bound sessions Friday and Monday, the natural gas futures market sprang to life Tuesday as local and commercial traders used chilly weather forecasts as an excuse to bid the market higher. A brief, early afternoon sell-off was just a blip on bulls’ radar and ultimately proved to be an opportunity for them to add to their length at slightly lower levels.

Natural gas wellhead prices will likely remain in the $5-6/Mcf range for the remainder of the year according to an updated report authored by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). The projection marks a more than 30% increase over the average price that prevailed throughout 2000 and 2001 of $3.87/Mcf.

Natural gas wellhead prices will likely remain in the $5-6/Mcf range for the remainder of the year according to an updated report authored by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). The projection marks a more than 30% increase over the average price that prevailed throughout 2000 and 2001 of $3.87/Mcf.