Teetering

After teetering above key long-term support for much of the session Friday, natural gas futures tumbled lower in the final minutes of trading last week as a wave of liquidation pressured prices to levels not seen since early January. The prompt month April contract was the hardest hit by the selling, falling down to a low of $5.05 at 2:30 p.m. EDT. April closed at $5.128, down 17.8 cents for the session.

Enron’s devastation has spread through the industry like the plague with many of the top gas marketers teetering on the edge of extinction in the third quarter. Some chose not to provide volume information to NGI out of what one analyst called “justifiable paranoia” over releasing any data in this time of extreme scrutiny by regulators and credit rating agencies. Meanwhile, others began to show steep declines in volumes that will surely grow exponentially next year.

Enron’s devastation has spread through the industry like the plague with many of the top gas marketers teetering on the edge of extinction in the third quarter. Some chose not to provide volume information to NGI out of what one analyst called “justifiable paranoia” over releasing any data in this time of extreme scrutiny by regulators and credit rating agencies. Meanwhile, others began to show steep declines in volumes that will surely grow exponentially next year.

While California state lawmakers finally rushed to deal with theshort-term power supply crisis on Friday, the financial conditionof Southern California Edison (SCE) and Pacific Gas & Electricmoved closer to the terminal stage. So far the measures passedappear inadequate to cure the utilities’ financial woes, accordingto many observers. Unless creditors see some ray of hope incontinuing legislative action they soon could force the utilitiesinto bankruptcy.

Responding to a California power market gone haywire and teetering on the brink of operational and financial disaster, FERC Friday issued a series of remedial measures, virtually stripping the Cal-PX and Cal-ISO of their control of the market and calling market stakeholders together to negotiate bilateral forward contracts.

Responding to a California power market gone haywire andteetering on the brink of operational and financial disaster, FERCFriday issued a series of remedial measures, virtually strippingthe Cal-PX and Cal-ISO of their control of the market and callingmarket stakeholders together to negotiate bilateral forwardcontracts.

It’s the “market volatility,” stupid!