Spurred

Spurred higher by record oil and natural gas production, XTO Energy Inc.’s net income for the third quarter reached $367 million, or $1.00 per share (99 cents diluted), a 17% increase from third quarter 2005 net income of $313 million, or 86 cents per share (85 cents diluted).

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) receipt terminal development along the Mexican and California coasts has spurred the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to take measures to create market diversity and stimulate LNG importation.

The February aftermarket got off to a strong beginning Tuesday with advances across the board. They were spurred largely by the screen’s huge run-up of nearly 90 cents the day before and to a lesser degree by modest growth in heating load.

Spurred higher by somewhat colder temperatures and a spooked crude futures market, February natural gas started Tuesday above $9 and continued higher from there. The prompt month peaked at $9.290 just before settling at $9.168, up 37.7 cents from Friday’s close.

Spurred by a rebound across the petroleum futures complex combined with slow to return natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, October natural gas futures kept its stay below $11 brief. After settling below $11 on Tuesday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, prompt month natural gas on Wednesday climbed 40.3 cents to close at $11.166.

Spurred by the success of a refocused strategy unveiled last year, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. last week added $300 million to its 2005 capital budget to build U.S. operations in three major areas: onshore acquisitions and drilling; coalbed methane (CBM) operations in Wyoming; and additional deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration.

Spurred by the success of a refocused strategy unveiled last year, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. on Wednesday added $300 million to its 2005 capital budget to build up its U.S. operations in three major areas: onshore acquisitions and drilling; coalbed methane (CBM) operations in Wyoming; and additional deepwater Gulf of Mexico exploration.

Encountering colder weather in key northern market areas than they had been led to expect a few days earlier, and also spurred by a screen advance of nearly 20 cents on Tuesday, cash traders pushed swing prices higher at all points Wednesday. Bidweek numbers also were reported to be on the rise.

Except for a smidgen of flatness at two Northwest Pipeline points, prices increased across the board Thursday as freezing temperatures — in some places approaching zero degrees — threatened to spread from the already frigid Midwest into the Northeast and to a limited extent into parts of the South.