Suffering

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed $88 million in budget cuts for energy efficiency research and development in fiscal 2005 marks a “retreat” from the agency’s prior commitment to tackle escalating natural gas prices, said the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

After suffering though a week’s worth of daily advances, bears finally got their chance Monday as extremely mild weather forecasts turned last week’s buyers of natural gas futures into sellers. When a quick uptick at the opening bell failed to surpass Friday’s $5.295 high, sell orders flooded into the trading pit. It took just an hour for the September contract to drop 25 cents Monday morning, nullifying about two-thirds of last week’s advance. It closed for the session at $5.083, down 19.7 cents on the day.

Driven in recent years by a surge of electric power plant construction that is only now subsiding, the accompanying boom in new natural gas pipeline projects and expansions is showing signs of exhaustion, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P).

Driven in recent years by a surge of electric power plant construction that is only now subsiding, the accompanying boom in new natural gas pipeline projects and expansions is showing signs of exhaustion, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P).

The power industry may be suffering now from a liquidity crunch, but it’s not the first time for the sector, and history may offer some “important” lessons, according to a Standard & Poor’s credit analyst.

After suffering through the World Trade Center tragedy, electronic energy marketplace TradeSpark LP managed a significant rebound, producing transaction, volume and revenue growth. The trading system, which was formed by eSpeed, Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald and five of the largest U.S. energy producers/distributors, traded more than $40.2 billion (notional value) in energy products in the fourth quarter and more than $150 billion since its inception in October 2000, the company said on Tuesday.

After suffering through the World Trade Center tragedy, electronic energy marketplace TradeSpark LP managed a significant rebound, producing transaction, volume and revenue growth. The trading system, which was formed by eSpeed, Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald and five of the largest U.S. energy producers/distributors, traded more than $40.2 billion (notional value) in energy products in the fourth quarter and more than $150 billion since its inception in October 2000, the company said on Tuesday.

After suffering a 9-cent setback late Wednesday afternoon,natural gas futures held their ground Thursday as traders electedto play it safe ahead of the holiday weekend. The May contractchecked to either side of unchanged, but ultimately finished inpositive territory, up 1.8 cents at $3.073. A narrow 4-cent tradingrange and a modest 54,989 in estimated volume were evidence of thequiet trade Thursday.

After suffering expiration-day losses in both regular and Accesstrading sessions Wednesday, natural gas futures made a feebleattempt at higher ground before ultimately slipping lower at theclosing bell yesterday. With that the May contract finished itsfirst day as prompt month with a 3.5 cent decline to $2.83. Volumewas extremely weak with just 48,969 contracts changing hands.