Spring

Reports of rising power generation load for gas as spring temperatures continue to go up were spotty Tuesday, but there apparently was enough demand to prompt moderate spot price firmness in the face of major weakness in the energy futures complex the day before.

With a spring shut-in test of the Bridgeport Storage Pool in West Virginia continuing through Monday, Dominion said that thus far it has managed to conduct the test without backing off any production. “However, the warm weather predicted for the weekend might necessitate backing off some production,” the pipeline said Thursday. “This could affect production in Bubbles 4202, 4203 and 4205, as well as production in Tucker County, the Greer Field and production behind the station at Peoria.” Dominion field personnel will notify producers if any shut-ins are necessary.

Berlin, CT-based Yankee Gas plans to break ground in spring 2004 on what it bills as the largest project ever undertaken by the natural gas utility — an estimated $53 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facility.

Berlin, CT-based Yankee Gas plans to break ground in spring 2004 on what it bills as the largest project ever undertaken by the natural gas utility — an estimated $53 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facility.

Following through on a promise made last spring to stabilize operations and improve earnings, TXU Corp. CEO Erle Nye on Monday said the company will deliver 10% higher earnings than previously forecast, and expects to report $1 a share for the third quarter, compared with a previous guidance of 90 cents.

In the waning hours of its spring session, the Illinois legislature last week agreed to impose a 5% sales tax on natural gas bought out-of-state as part of its budget and tax package aimed at curing the state government deficit. The measure will mainly impact manufacturers, but the legislators modified the governor’s proposal by including several exemptions.

Although the official start of summer is still more than two weeks away, the amusement park season officially opened at Nymex Wednesday. In a roller coaster-like session, the July contract twice soared and descended as fund and local trader technical buying met with equal parts producer selling.

In the waning hours of its spring session, the Illinois legislature earlier this week agreed to impose a 5% sales tax on natural gas bought out-of-state as part of its budget and tax package aimed at curing the state government deficit. The measure will mainly impact manufacturers, but the legislators modified the governor’s proposal by including several exemptions.

Finally, it was feeling more like spring than winter in nearly all market areas Wednesday, and the predictable market reaction was price declines ranging from barely lower to more than 60 cents, although the most common losses were between a dime and a quarter.