Response

Prices softened as expected Wednesday in response to partialabatement of the heat wave that plagued the Northeast and MiddleAtlantic earlier this week. But based on the sharp spike in futuresfollowing the afternoon release of AGA’s storage report, sourcesshowed no hesitation in saying they expect cash to return to anupward direction today.

In response to pressure from the market and Nymex, the AmericanGas Association last month announced that it would move forward therelease of its weekly gas storage data. Some traders and analystspredicted the change would increase liquidity, but most observersbelieved it would have little or no impact on the market. In fact,some market watchers even said the early release would decreasevolatility because of the natural efficiencies inherit in Nymex’sopen outcry trading system.

Initial reaction to the idea of consolidating the majorWashington D.C.-based energy trade groups under one umbrella seemsto be running from cold to warm, with some outright opposed to itand others at least willing to discuss it.

A Williams pipeline unit said last week that it has receivednonbinding interest for about 190 MMcf/d on its proposedinternational gas pipeline link from the Pacific Northwest tocogeneration plants on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Thestrong results prompted Williams and its partner, BC Hydro, to goback to the drawing board on the proposed size, route and generalscope of the project, which was originally estimated at about $120million and 100 MMcf/d.

Initial reaction to the idea of consolidating the majorWashington D.C.-based energy trade groups under one umbrella seemsto be running from cold to warm, with some emphatically opposed toit and others at least willing to discuss it.

Coastal’s Wyoming Interstate Co. has completed construction ofits Medicine Bow Lateral pipeline and begun moving gas. “Wereceived excellent customer response to this project from the verybeginning, and we now are ready to move more of their Powder RiverBasin gas to market,” said Jon Whitney, CEO of Colorado InterstateGas (CIG), which operates Wyoming Interstate (WIC).

The heat of July and Cinergy’s sweaty response to it mean EastCentral Area Reliability Coordination Agreement (ECAR) rules areabout to change to strongly discourage the unauthorized drawing ofpower from the system.

The heat of July and Cinergy’s sweaty response to it mean EastCentral Area Reliability Coordination Agreement (ECAR) rules areabout to change to strongly discourage the unauthorized drawing ofpower from the system.

FERC has ordered a sweeping review of the allocation, schedulingand pooling procedures on El Paso Natural Gas. The Commission tookthis action in response to a producer-marketer complaint assailingthe pipeline for its atypical method of allocating capacity atdelivery points at the California Border. Last week, FERC not onlyfound that these practices “may be unjust and unreasonable,” but itexpanded the scope of the proceeding to include the pipeline’sallocation methods at receipt points and its scheduling and poolingprocedures.