While it remains to be seen whether winter will show up thisyear, gas customer choice programs are very much with the industryright now. Programs in Maryland, Michigan and Washington, DC, areunder way. On the electric side of customer choice, two pilots havejust been kicked off in Texas.
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Prices Down for Weekend; Rebound Seen This Week
The weekend cash market followed the script written for it byfalling between between a nickel and just over a dime at nearly allpoints Friday. It was a “typical” low-demand period phenomena,according to one marketer; another, phrasing it slightlydifferently, called it “just the usual weekend blowout.”
Mild Price Softness Seen as Relatively Strong
It didn’t surprise any traders when the cash market was theteensiest bit softer Wednesday. What did prompt some expressions ofamazement was that prices held up as strongly as they did. Betweena falling futures screen and overall weaker demand fundamentals, itseemed that prices should have dropped at least a nickel or more,one source said. Instead, few points were down more than a coupleof pennies, and some registered flat showings. Northern NaturalGas, serving a market area with near-winter-like chill, evenmanaged small gains.
Swing Flat to Mildly Off; Small Bidweek Upticks Seen
Getting no signals from the futures trading pit, thelate-January cash market saw mild softening Tuesday. With snowyconditions covering the northwestern quadrant of the U.S., Westernpoints again tended to be flat to off no more than a penny or two.However, they were joined in small dips by several Gulf Coast andMidcontinent pipes, and Michigan citygates even managed to eke outmodest gains.
Gas Industry Combinations Quadruple this Decade
Not only has the gas industry seen a surge in mergers, the valueof gas mergers and acquisitions has nearly quadrupled in thisdecade from $10.4 billion in 1990 to $39 billion in 1997, accordingto the Energy Information Administration.
Gas Lines Beset by Ruptures, Explosions
The last couple of weeks have seen a number of mishaps involvingnatural gas lines, one of them resulting in fatalities.
Study Sees Capacity Price Distortion As FERC Related
Any price distortions that are being seen in the short-termmarket, particularly with capacity-release transactions, are theresult of FERC policies and regulations, and can’t be pinned on theindustry publications reporting those prices, according to a jointstudy between pipelines and LDCs that was released last week.
Prices Hit Plateau, But Weekend Weakness Seen
The cash market, seeing essentially nothing in the way ofdirectional influence, went into a holding pattern Thursday withfew points straying any further than 2-3 cents on either side offlat. A screen drop of just under a penny was deemedinconsequential, and even though some market areas were seeingnear-freezing temperatures Thursday, forecasts of warmer weatherfor the weekend through the middle of next week tempered any buyingenthusiasm.
Clinton May Sign Kyoto Accord as ‘Goodwill’ Token
President Clinton is expected to sign in a week or two the Kyotoagreement on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, but his action willbe seen as “more of a gesture of goodwill” to the conferencecurrently underway in Argentina further addressing the issue,according to Capitol Hill and gas industry sources. He has nointention of submitting the accord for ratification to the Senate,which is sharply opposed to it.
Prices Mostly Move Lower in Subdued Activity
In what a few sources described as some of the quietest tradingthey had seen in quite a while, cash quotes fell anywhere from 2cents to a dime or so at Eastern points Monday. In contrast,numbers were generally flat to slightly higher for the Rockies,Southwest basins, California and intra-Alberta.