Slight

On the heels of a three-day, 77-cent price rally, natural gas futures took a much-needed breather Tuesday as light profit taking by day traders and commercial hedgers demoted the prompt contract off its recent high. The April contract closed at $3.256, down 4.9 cents for the session, but more than a dollar above its Jan. 28 low. Estimated volume of 121,262 was heavy considering the modest price retreat.

Mexico’s state-owned oil company expects its natural gas production to rise slightly this year, about 0.3% over 2001, to average 4.526 Bcf/d — a small but hopeful sign for a country expecting to see its gas use grow 20% this year. Despite the small gains, Petroleos Mexicanos, also known as Pemex, said U.S. gas imports for 2002 will more than double to 673,000 Mcf/d, up from 292,200 Mcf/d a year earlier.

During the week ended Nov. 2, Houston-based Baker Hughes reported that the number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the United States fell by five from the previous week to 1,058. Of the U.S. rigs, 874 were drilling for natural gas and 184 were searching for oil. Research from a year ago showed that the country’s rig count was notched at 1,078.

The Mackenzie Valley and Beaufort offshore pipeline proposals got a slight push forward last week following two days of meetings with all of those responsible for regulating energy developments in the Northwest Territories. The agreement, coordinated by the National Energy Board, would set up a draft framework for a single environmental assessment process to review the proposals.

The Mackenzie Valley and Beaufort offshore pipeline proposals got a slight push forward this week following two days of meetings with all of those responsible for regulating energy developments in the Northwest Territories. The agreement, coordinated by the National Energy Board, would set up a draft framework for a single environmental assessment process to review the proposals.

After thrice testing, but failing to break beneath support Thursday, natural gas futures rebounded at the New York Mercantile Exchange as traders put an end to a nine-day, 70-cent price slide. The June contract received the biggest buying boost, closing 4.4 cents higher at $4.527.

Even with natural gas and crude oil prices posting slight gains earlier this month, exploration and production (E&P) shares continued their decline as they got caught in the overall down-draft of the market, according to Robert Morris of Salomon Smith Barney (SSB). E&P shares ended the first week of April down 3.5%, on average, while WTI spot crude oil prices gained nearly 3%, and composite spot natural gas prices rose more than 1%.

Even with natural gas and crude oil prices posting slight gains last week, exploration and production (E&P) shares continued their decline as they got caught in the overall down-draft of the market, according to Robert Morris of Salomon Smith Barney (SSB). E&P shares ended last week down 3.5%, on average, while WTI spot crude oil prices gained nearly 3%, and composite spot natural gas prices rose more than 1%.

After a busy 2000, Cinergy Corp. reported a slight decrease from1999 levels in net income in the fourth quarter, but the company’send-of-year net income showed growth over the year before. Netincome after taxes for the fourth quarter was approximately $92million ($0.58 per share), compared to about $93.5 million ($0.60per share) for the equivalent time period last year.