Somewhat

Prices were still on the rise in most cases Monday despite somewhat weaker weather fundamentals, but the gains generally were smaller than those for the weekend. A majority of increases were fairly mild in single digits, although several Northeast citygates and scattered other points rose by dime-plus amounts. A few points were flat.

Prices continued to ride the crest of somewhat premature winter weather and strong futures to new gains Wednesday, but just barely in most cases. Rockies numbers increased by about 20-40 cents and Northeast citygates rose by 5-15 cents, but otherwise nearly all points ranged from flat to only about a nickel higher.

The Gulf Coast oil and gas industry was somewhat fortunate Thursday that Lili made landfall in central Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds rather than the Category 4 with 145 mph winds it had been Wednesday evening. While it will take a few days for complete damage assessments, the readily apparent loss is that of supply. Lili’s presence and that of the weaker Isidore last week have removed 60 Bcf of gas production and 10 million barrels of oil from the market over the past two weeks, according to the Mineral Management Service (MMS) (see related story).

Hoisted somewhat on the petard of its own success and a shrinking merchant power market nationally, San Diego, CA-based Sempra Energy and its two principal utility subsidiaries had their credit ratings downgraded Wednesday by Standard & Poor’s, reflecting Sempra’s increased earnings from the nonutility businesses, particularly energy trading.

The slippery downhill slope on which prices were launched Wednesday, somewhat befittingly during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, got steeper Thursday, especially for Northeast citygates. Most points saw drops ranging from about a nickel to a little more than a dime, with those on either side of a dime being most prevalent. But numbers in the warming Northeast dove by as much as 49 cents.

Thanks to the one-two punch of a much-below-expectations storage injection report and somewhat premature winter weather that was producing near-blizzard conditions in parts of the Upper Plains and Upper Midwest, spot prices spiked intensely Thursday for gains in excess of 40 cents nearly across the board.

Hoping to make some political points and address a somewhatforgotten side of California’s energy woes, the minority RepublicanParty leaders in the state legislature Monday asked Gov. Gray Davisto call a second, concurrent special session of the state lawmakersto address natural gas supply and price issues that are related tothe electricity crisis.

In a trading session reminiscent of days long gone, natural gasfutures were somewhat subdued Friday as traders held prices withina tight 16-cent trading range. Armed with fresh weather forecastsas well as a constructive technical outlook, traders added to theirlength, not only in the prompt month, but also in the summercontracts. Being the last month left on the winter of 2001 strip,March continued to play the role as the sacrificial lamb as it waslimited to a modest 5.2-cent advance. Comparatively, theApril-October summer strip showed a little more life, rumbling 7.1cents higher to close at $5.725.

Calling 2000 a watershed year for the natural gas market issomewhat akin to saying 1776 was an important time in U.S. history.With only a couple of exceptions, last year began with all spotprice indexes between $2 and $3. It ended with January 2001 indexesranging from $8.56 (Questar) to $18.81 (Transco Zone 6-NYC).