Sparked

Sparked in part by bullish comments from Federal Reserve Board Governor Ben S. Bernanke on Thursday, November natural gas futures shot above the psychological $8 level in Friday trading to notch a new annual high at $8.23 before settling at $8.105, up 40.8 cents on the day. Friday capped off a meteoric increase for the week, which ended $1.396 higher than the previous Friday’s settle of $6.709.

Sparked in part by bullish comments from Federal Reserve Board Governor Ben S. Bernanke on Thursday, November natural gas futures shot above the psychological $8 level in Friday trading to notch a new annual high at $8.23 before settling at $8.105, up 40.8 cents on the day. Friday capped off a meteoric increase for the week, which ended $1.396 higher than the previous Friday’s settle of $6.709.

“Systematically stronger gas demand,” sparked by a 4-5% increase over the same time last year in base (non-weather-related) power demand, should offset this year’s greater end-of-winter storage stocks, and keep mid-summer gas prices above $5, according to analyst Stephen Smith.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking a broad look at oil and natural gas companies’ reserve accounting practices, sparked largely by recent disclosures of Royal Dutch/Shell Group and El Paso Corp. that they inflated their proven reserves.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) annual report on U.S. natural gas reserves released last Monday was a mixed bag, with an increase in proved reserves of about 3.5 Tcf, down from last’s year’s stellar 6 Tcf, but slightly above the previous 10-year average of 3.2 Tcf.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) annual report on U.S. natural gas reserves released Monday was a mixed bag, with an increase in proved reserves of about 3.5 Tcf, down from last’s year’s stellar 6 Tcf, but slightly above the previous 10-year average of 3.2 Tcf.

Sparked by warmer than normal weather last summer and colder than normal weather last fall, NiSource Inc. posted income from continuing operations for 2002 of $425.7 million, or $2.02 per share, compared to $226.4 million, or $1.10 per share, in fiscal year 2001. Net income for 2002 was $372.5 million, or $1.77 per share, compared to $216.2 million, or $1.05 per share, in 2001.

Sparked primarily by customer conversion to natural gas and a colder than normal fourth quarter, KeySpan Corp. announced record 2002 consolidated earnings from continuing operations, less preferred stock dividends, of $391.6 million, or $2.77 per share, compared to earnings of $338.8 million, or $2.45 per share, for the same period in the prior year.

Sparked by what is seen as “increased risk” in Coral Energy Holding LP.’s business profile, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) said that it has placed the company’s ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications.