FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. yesterday “strongly encourage[d]” parties to reach a monetary settlement in the high-profile case in which California regulators have accused El Paso Natural Gas and El Paso Merchant Energy Co. (EPME) of illegally manipulating natural gas prices in California and committing affiliate violations.
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East Flat to Mildly Lower; West Mixed But Mostly Down
Eastern markets held up relatively strongly for the weekend considering the lower-demand flow period and a continuation of weak weather fundamentals. Most points in the East ranged from flat to just a few pennies down Friday, and a few scattered ones achieved small gains. The West stayed with its earlier trend of mostly larger declines, led by an OFO-related plunge for border-SoCalGas.
Prices Mildly Firmer in East, Rallying Strongly in West
Traders returned to a fairly quiet market Monday in which prices increased by about a dime or less at most eastern points but by considerably larger amounts in the West. California was heating up rapidly and registered triple-digit recoveries from weekend softness.
Salomon Sees Strong Injections, Rising Production
Salomon Smith Barney (SSB) said in a weekly E&P report that it expects gas storage injections to continue to strongly outpace last year and consequently put further downward pressure on gas prices in the near-term. Over the long-term, however, SSB expects current underlying supply/demand dynamics will balance out in a price range of $4 to $5/MMBtu.
CA Spikes Lead Market Up, But Softness Seen Today
Triple-digit spikes at the Southern California border andPG&E citygate were the standout leaders of a strongly risingoverall swing market Wednesday. Virtually all non-California pointswere up between about a nickel and a quarter, with the smallestincreases tending to cluster in the Rockies.
Mexico’s Fox Pushing For Energy Reforms
Mexican President Vicente Fox said that he will push strongly to allow private investment in the country’s state-run electricity commission because without it, the country will have to practically beg for help from the United States to meet its energy needs. He insisted, however, at an economic summit in central Mexico last week that there are no plans to privatize the country’s state-run electricity commission or its state-run oil company.
Futures Close Strongly After AGA-Related Dip
Except for an hour of storage data-induced volatility from 2p.m. (EST) to 3 p.m. (EST), natural gas futures were quietyesterday as traders were reluctant to pressure prices outside therecent trading range. At the closing bell, April prices were 3.5cents stronger at $5.35.
Mexico’s Fox Urges Energy Reforms
Mexican President Vicente Fox said last weekend that he willpush strongly to allow private investment in the country’sstate-run electricity commission because without it, the countrywill have to practically beg for help from the United States tomeet its energy needs. He insisted, however, that there are noplans to privatize the country’s state-run electricity commissionor its state-run oil company.
Prices Up Strongly Except in CA, But May Be Peaking
Weather that either was already bringing snow or was expected todo so soon in several regions, accompanied by some initial screensupport, pushed the cash market sharply higher Thursday at nearlyall points. Only the PG&E citygate and Southern Californiaborder registered drops amid overall gains of about 50 cents ormore. Many of the larger increases were clustered in the snowyRockies/Pacific Northwest.
Futures Finish Strongly After Midweek Plunge
After tumbling to a new two-week low Tuesday, natural gasfutures roared back to life Thursday and Friday as traders wereforeced to cover their newly acquired short positions. With thatthe February contract was able to take back a dollar of lastTuesday’s record-breaking $1.411 sell-off, finishing the week at$9.261.