Still

Although still not under construction Texas-based Western HubProperties’ Lodi Underground Storage Project announced Thursday ithas a deal with power plant developer/operator Calpine Corp., ofSan Jose, CA to provide storage services for up to 4 Bcf of naturalgas used to fuel some of Calpine’s growing list of Californiagenerating plants.

Much of the North American market seemed to be joining theCanadians in still being on holiday Tuesday. In very subduedactivity scattered points (mostly in the California/PacificNorthwest region) registered upticks, but most ranged from mildlysofter to down as much as about $3.50 at the Chicago citygate.

Regional Reliability Councils and their members are about 90%compliant, but work still needs to be done to bring standards upand encourage non-members to join, according to the latest reportfrom the North American Electricity Reliability Council. NERC haspublished its findings for the second of four phases of its Year2000 Compliance Program, created to ensure adherence to NERC andregional standards.

Boosted by higher cash market prices, natural gas futures gappedhigher at the open Monday as traders continued to make up groundlost in the precipitous decline early last week. However, insimilar fashion to last week, January futures ran into heavyoverhead selling, pressuring the market lower for much of thesession. The prompt month finished at $8.527, up 13.1 cents on theday, but off 67.3 cents from its $9.20 opening trade.

Although still very much intact, the uptrend which has carriedprices higher for much of the year suffered a defeat yesterday, astraders liquidated positions on the open to create a potentiallybearish technical scenario. The January contract took the sell-offsquarely on the chin, tumbling $1.00 lower to evoke a lock-limitdown trading halt at about 10:15 a.m. (ET) Tuesday. Afterre-opening 15 minutes later with new two-dollar limits in eitherdirection, the market continued lower to finish at $8.145, down$1.268 for the session.

For those who are still scrambling for explanations on why gasprices have reached record levels, Salomon Smith Barney (SSB)meteorologist Jon Davis offered a brief synopsis last week of whathappened with the weather last month. November 2000 was the secondcoldest November in 106 years and it was a complete reversal fromNovember 1999, which was the warmest November in 106 years.

For those who are still scrambling for explanations on why gasprices have reached record levels, Salomon Smith Barney (SSB)meteorologist Jon Davis offered a brief synopsis last week of whathappened with the weather last month. November 2000 was the secondcoldest November in 106 years and it was a complete reversal fromNovember 1999, which was the warmest November in 106 years.

Wholesale gas and power sales still appear to be climbingsharply for most major marketers as Enron, Duke Energy and Reliantall posted significant increases in both commodities in thirdquarter. Southern Energy reported that while its third quarterNorth American electricity sales declined from last year’s thirdquarter level, its gas sales enjoyed a sizable increase.

Wholesale gas and power sales still appear to be climbingsharply for most major marketers as Enron and Duke Energy bothposted significant increases in both commodities in third quarter.Southern Energy reported that while its third quarter NorthAmerican electricity sales declined from last year’s third quarterlevel, its gas sales enjoyed a sizable increase.