Resulting

One day after natural gas futures traders put in a meteoric trading session resulting in a spot month record settle of $14.338, the November contract, which expires Thursday, used Wednesday to teeter back and forth from positive to negative territory. Ultimately, the prompt month ended up shedding some of Tuesday’s gains by closing 29.8 cents lower at $14.04.

ANR said current operating conditions at its ANR St. Landry/FGT interconnect with Florida Gas Transmission in South Louisiana are resulting in consistent flow of around 100,000 MMBtu/d, and until those conditions change, FGT will only schedule up to 100,000 MMBtu/d at the interconnect. Normally FGT schedules up to 150,000-250,000 MMBtu/d there, ANR said. The reduction will take effect Friday.

Power grids in California, Nevada and Arizona last week fended off soaring temperatures and a resulting flood of demand for electricity. Power providers in Nevada and Arizona were reporting new records for system peaks, while the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) declared restricted maintenance days for power facilities and asked Californians to reduce energy usage.

El Paso Corp. restated its 2003 and 2004 financial results on Wednesday, resulting in a $46 million reduction in its previously reported net losses. The company also said that it made some changes to enhance the effectiveness of its internal controls over its financial reporting process. The company said the financial restatements were associated with currency translation adjustments. The impact of the restatements was a $45 million reduction of the company’s net loss in 2003 and a $1 million reduction in 2004. The company said it determined that its currency translation adjustment (CTA) balances contained amounts related to businesses and investments that had been previously sold or abandoned. The CTA balances related to these entities should have been reclassified to earnings upon the sale or abandonment of these entities. El Paso also identified an issue related to the manner in which it initially recorded U.S. deferred income taxes related to foreign entities that had CTA balances. As restated, El Paso reported that it had a net loss of $947 million last year and a net loss of $195 million in 2003. The loss from continuing operations was increased to $833 million last year from the previously reported $802 million, and the loss from continuing operations in 2003 was changed to $595 million from $605 million. The net loss per share remained the same for 2004 but was reduced in 2003 to $3.15.

Saying current operating conditions at its ANR St. Landry interconnect in South Louisiana are resulting in consistent flow of about 150,000 MMBtu/d, Florida Gas Transmission said Wednesday that until such conditions change, it will only schedule up to 150,000 MMBtu/d at the interconnect until further notice. Normally FGT schedules up to 250,000 MMBtu/d there. FGT also extended an Overage Alert Day notice for customers in its market area into a third day Wednesday, but loosened the tolerance for negative daily imbalances from 15% to 20%.

Investors’ recognition of natural gas and oil price sustainability and resulting oilfield activity levels will lead to another banner year for energy investors, with gas prices expected to average $7.25/Mcf, said Raymond James analysts Monday.

Enbridge Gas Distribution announced Wednesday it has received approval from the Ontario Energy Board to adjust its prices Jan.1, resulting in a C$70 annual increase for the typical residential customer buying gas from Enbridge, excluding a gas cost adjustment refund, and a C$6 annual decrease for a typical residential buying gas from a marketer.

The California Public Utilities Commission last Wednesday approved separate cost-of-service rate settlements for Sempra Energy’s two utilities, resulting in slight decreases in their rates while authorizing collective revenue requirements of more than $2.4 billion for Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. The action was unanimously approved by the five-member panel, although two members had concerns about the lack of detail in the two settlements.

The California Public Utilities Commission Wednesday approved separate cost-of-service rate settlements for Sempra Energy’s two utilities, resulting in slight decreases in their rates while authorizing collective revenue requirements of more than $2.4 billion for Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. The action was unanimously approved by the five-member panel, although two members had concerns about the lack of detail in the two settlements.