Tacked

Environmental surcharges will be permanently tacked onto Canadian pipeline tolls if the National Energy Board (NEB) grants requests by natural gas and oil transporters to make shippers cover cleanup liabilities.

October natural gas tacked on another healthy gain Wednesday and settled above $4 as traders noted considerable angst among holders of short positions feeling that they did not want to get caught on the wrong side of any market move higher. At the close October had risen 5.9 cents to $4.039 and November had gained 6.3 cents to $4.117. October crude oil dropped for the day by $1.30 to $88.91/bbl.

An amendment tacked on to a Senate defense spending bill late Thursday would end royalty relief for producers that drill on federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) when commodity prices reach certain levels. The Department of the Interior currently has the discretion to end royalty relief when producers are earning record profits from high oil and natural gas prices.

An amendment tacked on to a Senate defense spending bill late Thursday would end royalty relief for producers that drill on federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) when commodity prices reach certain levels. The Department of the Interior currently has the discretion to end royalty relief when producers are earning record profits from high oil and natural gas prices.

Alaska state legislators have tacked an amendment to a tax incentives bill to force oil and natural gas lease operators to develop reserves.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) tacked on another 46 cents/Mcf to its first quarter 2003 natural gas wellhead price forecast compared to last month’s edition of the Short-Term Energy Outlook. In the latest Outlook, EIA is expecting first quarter prices to average $4.16.

Fueled by the season’s first hurricane hype and gains tacked onduring the Wednesday evening Access trading session, natural gasfutures gapped higher for the second day in a row yesterday asshort-covering and fresh buying created a tempest of bullishtrading activity. That buying pressure continued throughout much ofthe session, allowing the September contract to notch a new high of$2.905 before finishing at $2.898, up 10.6 cents from Wednesday’sclose.