Releases

Sparked by natural gas futures gains through Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Northeast and Louisiana points mostly posted single-digit gains Friday, while low gas demand and moderate temperatures allowed most of the market to shed anywhere from a couple of pennies to 83 cents, with the largest drops coming from the Midcontinent and the West.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released complete details of its new weekly gas storage survey methodology in preparation for the release on Thursday morning of the first weekly gas storage estimates using the new design. The agency also said last week that on Thursday it would revise 16 weeks of previously released weekly gas storage data back to July 4 (see Daily GPI, Oct. 24).

FERC last Thursday agreed to defer action in high-profile complaint case alleging gas price manipulation until June 4 to allow El Paso Corp. and California parties time to finalize their settlement and submit it to the agency, but it wasn’t happy about it.

FERC on Thursday agreed to defer action in the high-profile complaint case alleging gas price manipulation until June 4 to allow El Paso Corp. and California parties time to finalize their settlement and submit it to the agency, but it wasn’t happy about it.

Faced with the “deterioration of [the] financial soundness” of certain natural gas shippers on its system, Questar Pipeline Co. is proposing tariff changes that would protect itself financially in the event firm capacity is released by non-creditworthy or insolvent shippers.

Faced with the “deterioration of [the] financial soundness” of certain natural gas shippers on its system, Questar Pipeline Co. is proposing tariff changes that would protect itself financially in the event firm capacity is released by non-creditworthy or insolvent shippers.

As winter temperatures in the Northeast plunged to single digits, the Senate last Thursday overwhelmingly passed a major omnibus spending bill that, among other things, calls for a $300 million increase in federal assistance to help low-income heating customers pay their utility bills throughout 2003. At the same time, President Bush released additional emergency funds last week to aid the public during the cold snap.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has released its 2002 Master Agreement, a widely used standardized contract for the derivatives trading industry, with several modifications designed to reflect changes in the industry over the last decade.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released three “protected” El Paso Corp. document exhibits Monday as part of the agency’s day-long oral arguments in the market-manipulation complaint case that has pitted California against the Houston-based energy giant.