Rose

Hurricane Wilma forced an increase in Gulf of Mexico gas production shut-ins on Friday, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) reported. Shut-ins rose to 5,337 MMcf/d from 5,196 MMcf/d a day earlier. Although there was little chance that the hurricane would make a turn into the Central Gulf, that didn’t stop some Gulf producers and drilling companies from evacuating personnel and shutting down restoration efforts on offshore facilities.

There were exceptions to the overall trend in each area Wednesday, but generally eastern prices rose by as much as a little more than 30 cents while the West was mostly softer with losses extending to a little over a dollar in one case. Traders tended to credit the moderate rebounds in the East to strength in overnight Access futures trading, while a high-inventory OFO by the PG&E utility (see Transportation Notes) helped indicate the dearth of demand in the West.

Gulf Coast and Gulf of Mexico gas production rose only slightly Thursday, moving up about 13 MMcf/d to 5,161 MMcf/d, according to gas nominations into the region’s pipelines, Golden, CO-based Bentek Energy reported. Bentek, which collects its information from official pipeline company bulletin boards, said a total of 8,660 MMcf/d of gas production remains shut in onshore and offshore based on a comparison with the amount of gas scheduled to flow on Aug. 26 prior to Hurricane Katrina.

Showing just how enamored Wall Street still is with energy industry IPOs, Williams Partners LP’s shares rose more than 20% following an initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday.

Cash prices rose sharply Wednesday morning on the heels of the futures market but then reversed course when the entire energy futures complex suddenly plummeted. However, most cash averages showed daily net increases of 15-35 cents, with Florida, the Gulf Coast, Northeast and Midwest points posting the highest gains and with smaller gains in the West.

With higher prices and daily production up 28%, Houston-based independent Noble Energy Inc.’s second quarter income rose 90% from a year ago to the highest level in its history, $136.9 million ($1.87/share) compared with $72 million ($1.24) in 2Q2004. Cash flow grew 49% to $329.9 million compared with $221.4 million.

As it strengthens its position in the natural gas liquids (NGL) business, Oneok Inc. said its second quarter income rose 40% on strong gas, NGL and oil prices, along with higher sales and transportation volumes. Net income was $24.9 million (23 cents/share), compared with $17.8 million (17 cents) in 2Q2004.

Prices rose across the board Tuesday based on a screen spike of nearly 33 cents the day before and still substantive (but dwindling) air conditioning load. Upticks ranging from nearly a dime to a little more than 40 cents were distributed fairly evenly among the various market regions, although California quotes tended to see the smallest increases.

The average U.S. price paid for electricity by large customers rose by 5.2% between April 2004 and April 2005, with the highest prices in New York, New Jersey and California, according to a national survey by NUS Consulting. The survey, which sampled monthly usage at 24 of the largest investor-owned utility companies in the country, said the average price of power for large customers was 7.95 cents/kWh in April, compared with 7.56 cents/kWh a year earlier.