Showed

Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) showed last week that it wasnot willing to sit tight and wait for its midstream venture withPhillips’ GPM to begin, as it announced plans to acquire gatheringand processing assets in central Oklahoma from Conoco Inc. andMitchell Energy & Development Corp. The transaction is expectedto close March 31 after regulatory approvals are received. Nofinancial information was disclosed.

Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) yesterday showed it was notgoing to sit tight and wait for its midstream venture withPhillips’ GPM to begin, as it announced plans to acquire gatheringand processing assets in central Oklahoma from Conoco Inc. andMitchell Energy & Development Corp. The transaction is expectedto close March 31 after regulatory approvals are received. Nofinancial information was disclosed.

Enron Americas LNG Co. has withdrawn its protest alleging that Southern LNG Inc. showed preferential treatment when it awarded the entire capacity of its facility on Elba Island in Georgia, which it is seeking to reactivate, to its marketing affiliate. Since filing the protest in August, the two companies “have negotiated a commercial resolution regarding the future use of the Elba Island Terminal.” Enron LNG said it now supports Southern LNG’s bid for a preliminary determination by Dec. 31 and final approval in the first quarter of 2000 to upgrade and reactivate the mothballed terminalling facility. (See Daily GPI, Aug. 19).

This week’s uptrend in cash prices continued Wednesday butclearly showed signs of losing momentum. Several points in variousmarkets leveled off with flat showings, and the gains were small,generally less than 4 cents. PG&E citygates saw the day’s mostnotable decline of more than a nickel due to a high-inventory OFOby the utility that is effective today and carries a stringent 3%tolerance for positive imbalances.

Cash prices again showed little movement Thursday. The maindifference from the previous day was that small drops dominatedinstead of small increases. Thursday’s biggest fall of nearly adime came in Transco Zone 6-New York City.

The gas market showed last week it was fed up with low crude oilprices getting all the attention. In a market swing that wasnothing short of unbelievable, gas prices collapsed to nearhistoric lows for a week in December. Spot prices at the Henry Hubplummeted to $1.01/MMBtu on Friday and averaged $1.32 for the week,down 64 cents from the week prior. Spot prices at a number of otherlocations in Louisiana and Texas fell below $1 on Friday.

The gas market showed last week it was fed up with low crude oilprices getting all the attention. In a market swing that wasnothing short of unbelievable, gas prices collapsed to nearhistoric lows for a week in December. Spot prices at the Henry Hubplummeted to $1.01/MMBtu on Friday and averaged $1.32 for the week,down 64 cents from the week prior. Spot prices at a number of otherlocations in Louisiana and Texas fell below $1 on Friday.

Late-November price softness showed little sign of abating inpost-weekend activity Monday, and except for residents of theNorthwest and Upper Plains enduring somewhat nasty weather, thereason was apparent to anybody who went outdoors. Temperaturesapproaching the Thanksgiving holiday are unseasonably mild for thegreat majority of the U.S., and the lack of load combined with theearly stages of storage withdrawal season were depressing both cashand futures numbers. Quotes were mostly flat for the SouthernCalifornia border and TCO; otherwise price declines tended to rangefrom about a nickel to more than a dime.

Third quarter earnings announced by three more major producersThursday showed income declines from the previous third quarterranging from 37% to 79%. Not surprisingly, Shell, Chevron, andPhillips Petroleum all cited weak commodity prices for their poorperformances.