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It’s still pretty cold in most places, especially the shivering Northeast, but there was enough of a moderating trend under way in such areas as the western South, Midcontinent/Midwest and Southwest that prices fell at nearly all points Thursday. The 17.6-cent decline in February futures the day before also contributed negative guidance to cash numbers.

Demand for gas storage capacity in the Rockies is growing as gas demand continues to grow and the push for more renewable energy such as wind power creates a need for more back-up gas-fired generation. Xcel Energy told Colorado state regulators last week that it’s in the market for more storage space to support its gas supply portfolio.

Joining the ranks of other experts such as Colorado State University (CSU) forecasters William Gray and Philip Klotzbach who have been recently slashing their 2006 Atlantic hurricane activity predictions, Andover, MA-based WSI Corp. downgraded its outlook last week for the second time in two months. WSI said it now expects the tropical season to have 13 named storms, six hurricanes and three intense hurricanes (Category 3 or greater).

The United Kingdom’s National Grid will make major strides in its near-dominance of major utilities in the New York-New England section of the United States with its plan to acquire KeySpan Corp., rumored last week and announced early Monday. National Grid will pay $42 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $7.3 billion, with an enterprise value of $11.8 billion. The boards of both companies unanimously approved the acquisition.

The Bush administration has redrawn the boundaries in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in such a manner that it gives Louisiana authority over waters that are close to 100 miles from Florida’s shores, and includes portions of the gas-rich Lease Sale 181, according to a legislative aide for Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), a staunch opponent of oil and gas drilling off the Sunshine State’s coastline.

FERC would be willing to consider requests filed at the Commission for cost recovery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina if such filings are jurisdictional to the federal agency, FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher said last Tuesday.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. said Thursday its board of directors have approved a number of strategic initiatives, such as buying back company stock and selling deepwater Gulf of Mexico properties, to bolster shareholder value and returns.

While an outright bearish natural gas storage report was needed to stem the recent meteoric rise in futures prices, traders received no such help Thursday morning as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a slightly bullish 43 Bcf injection for the week ended Aug. 5.

Pacific Gas & Electric declared a systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO for Saturday. It was the utility’s third such OFO in less than a week. The most recent one had $1/Dth penalties for exceeding a 5% tolerance on positive daily imbalances.