Severe

Severe winter-like conditions continued to tighten their icy grip Wednesday, but only San Juan/Rockies points were still experiencing rising prices. Perhaps in anticipation of an approaching easing of the harsh weather blanketing Canada and most of the U.S. from the Rockies eastward, most of the cash market fell between about a nickel and 20 cents. Some Northeast citygates saw losses approaching half a dollar, while others rose a dollar or more.

In the wake of “recent upheavals in the gas industry” that have prompted severe credit downgrades of energy traders and others, Tennessee Gas Pipeline, Kinder Morgan’s Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America and Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC separately have proposed changes to their transportation tariffs to shield them and their paying pipeline customers from the financial risks posed by insolvent or credit-risky shippers. Natural’s and Kinder Morgan Interstate’s proposed credit protections primarily focus on capacity-release transactions, while Tennessee’s are far more broad.

As several parent companies of the top natural gas pipelines face severe credit and liquidity problems, this could put a major crimp in future plans to bolster the nation’s energy infrastructure, both for gas and electricity, FERC Chairman Pat Wood told Congress Wednesday during a hearing examining energy infrastructure issues.

As several parent companies of the top natural gas pipelines face severe credit and liquidity problems, this could put a major crimp in future plans to bolster the nation’s energy infrastructure, both for gas and electricity, FERC Chairman Pat Wood told Congress Wednesday during a hearing examining energy infrastructure issues.

Faced with a sharp drop-off in company stock and severe credit crunch, Williams Cos. is considering bring in an outside partner for its marketing and trading arm, a company official said last Wednesday.

Prices continued to recede along with severe winter weather Wednesday. The declines also continued to grow more consistent across geographical lines. With the exception of a plunge of more than 40 cents at the Florida citygate (which still left it the market’s most expensive point), virtually all other points fell between about a nickel and 15 cents.

Traders had realized that a belated stretch of severe winter weather throughout much of North America was the only thing keeping spot prices firm since the end of January, so it was purely a matter of “when” a market retrenchment would begin. The “when” turned out to be Wednesday, as across the board declines were topped by plunges ranging up to slightly more than 70 cents (Algonquin citygate) in the previously high-flying Northeast.

A moderation of recently severe winter weather in several market areas is still on the way, but the cold retained enough grip Tuesday to spur small gains of about a nickel or less at a majority of points. Citygates in the Northeast were joined by Florida deliveries in recording larger advances, while western points were mostly flat to 3-4 cents lower.

Last week’s siege of severe winter weather retained enough market influence Friday to have weekend prices in the Northeast ranging from flat to up as much as nearly 20 cents (Transco Zone 6-NYC), although most gains were less than a dime. Western points, where some moderation of the cold was already under way, tended to see mostly tiny declines of a couple of cents or so.