The natural gas utility industry may be small when compared toother investment opportunities, but it’s still an extremelyattractive stock play – especially for the small- to medium-sizedinvestor, said a representative of the American Gas Association(AGA) last week.
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Independence, SupplyLink Still Waiting for PDs
Citing the need to accommodate increased Canadian gas suppliesflowing into the Midwest, the sponsors of Independence Pipeline andSupplyLink have urged FERC to promptly issue preliminarydeterminations (PDs) on the non-environmental aspects of theirpipeline projects.
Warming, Holiday Weekend Send Cash Market Lower
It was still freezing and snowy in much of the Midwest andNortheast Thursday, but cash traders continued to bank on anapproaching warming trend that has been ballyhooed since thebeginning of the week. Prices fell by about a nickel to a littleover a dime in across-the-board softness. The Martin Luther KingDay weekend (in which some apparently are getting a half-day offthis afternoon in addition to the actual holiday Monday) added tothe general bearish mood.
PG&E Still Fighting TX Franchise Fee Case
PG&E Gas Transmission Texas (PG&E GT-T), a subsidiary ofPG&E Corp., said it will appeal a judgment handed down lastweek in the 92nd district court in Hildalgo County, TX, regardingfranchise fees, even though the judge reduced the August 1998 juryverdict.
OCC Nearing Decision on Gathering Rulemaking
As expected, there still is nearly complete disagreement amongOklahoma gatherers and producers over the fairness of current ratesand service treatment. Responses to a recent Oklahoma CorporationCommission (OCC) questionnaire reveal that nearly half of producerrespondents felt similarly situated producers on the same gatheringsystem received higher or lower prices than they received. Also,79% said this was unduly discriminatory.
PG&E Woos Kinder Morgan Executive
In a move to strengthen its still under-performing Texas naturalgas assets, PG&E Corp. yesterday named Thomas B. King presidentand COO of unregulated subsidiary PG&E Gas Transmission, whichis based in Houston. King, formerly president of Kinder MorganEnergy Partners, takes on his new duties Nov. 23. He is filling aposition left vacant by the sudden death of Joseph Kearney, aPG&E executive who suffered a heart attack in September. Kingwill be replaced at Kinder Morgan by Vice Chairman Bill Morgan.
Hurricane Loses Its Price-Bolstering Touch
Though still one of the most dangerous hurricanes to come downthe pike in many years, Mitch was unable to to sustain its positiveinfluence on cash prices Tuesday. Incremental quotes ranged fromslightly higher to as much as 7-8 cents lower, with the majority ofpoints registering downticks. A diving futures screen set theexample for cash to emulate, sources said.
El Paso Energy Grew Earnings 16%
El Paso Energy’s two pipelines combined lost $2 million, but thecompany still turned in improved earnings. Third quarter earningswere 43 cents/diluted share, an increase of 16% from 37 cents in Q31997.
ANR Eugene Island Expansion Still Uncertain
ANR Pipeline has yet to decide whether to proceed with expansionof its Eugene Island system in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of aFERC order upholding a previous decision that approved the projectbut put ANR at risk for its cost. “I think all I can say at thispoint is we’re continuing to review the order and consider ouroptions,” an ANR spokesman said Friday.
Market Still on Upswing But Slowing Down
The surge that has characterized cash trading activity this weekcontinued Wednesday but at a significantly slower pace, suggestingto some that prices had reached or were nearing peaks. The newupticks left most eastern points in the vicinity of October indexlevels, while markets in the West padded their already considerablestandings above indexes.