The Williams Cos. Inc.’s consolidated credit measures have”deteriorated” due to an aggressive capital investment program,ever-widening losses from its communications business and weakenergy prices throughout 1998 and earlier this year, but Fitch IBCAnevertheless gave the company a credit rating of ‘BBB’ basedlargely on the stability of its interstate gas pipelines and thegrowth potential of its diversified energy businesses.
Thanks
Articles from Thanks
A Second Week Begins With Big Price Increases
Some traders were getting a sense of deja vu all over again(thanks, Yogi Berra) as a second straight week started withdouble-digit price increases nearly across the board. The biggestgains on either side of 20 cents were concentrated at Northeastcitygates. Despite forecasts of snow and cold weather in theRockies, several increases of about a dime were experienced bypipes there. And although its rise of a little over a dime wasamong the day’s smaller ones, the PG&E citygate topped all U.S.pricing with quotes solidly in the $3.30s.
Energymarketplace.com Goes Nationwide
Thanks to an agreement announced yesterday with the softwaresolutions company Excelergy, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas)will expand its energy e-commerce Web site, Energymarketplace.com,to all states that have customer choice programs. The site hadpreviously emphasized the West Coast. While SoCalGas will continueto sponsor the site, Excelergy has assumed development, marketingand sales responsibilities.
Poco Petroleums to Drill Hot Chevron Prospects in Canada
Thanks partly to decisions in the United States, Canadians areturning up the heat under hot drilling plays along the Albertafoothills of the Rocky Mountains and in northeastern BritishColumbia. Chevron Canada’s western exploration manager, LarryStewart, revealed to a session of financial analysts howAmerican-held hot prospects of filling expanding export pipelinesare being opened up to Canadian-owned firms.
Poco Petroleums to Drill Hot Chevron Prospects
Thanks partly to decisions in the United States, Canadians areturning up the heat under hot drilling plays along the Albertafoothills of the Rocky Mountains and in northeastern BritishColumbia. Chevron Canada’s western exploration manager, LarryStewart, revealed in a session of financial analysts howAmerican-held hot prospects of filling expanding export pipelinesare being opened up to Canadian-owned firms.
Bay State Avoids Bypass, Inks Deal with Muni
Bay State Gas avoided a significant bypass by the MassachusettsMunicipal Wholesale Electric Co. (MMWEC) thanks to landowneropposition to a larger pipeline proposal and a lengthy negotiationprocess. After two years of work on an alternative 15-mile bypassof the Bay State system that would have linked with Tennessee GasPipe Line, MMWEC yesterday signed a 20-year agreement covering 13Bcf/year of new gas transportation on Bay State’s system to servepower generation load.
Rumor Spikes El Paso, Sonat Trading
Trading in El Paso Energy stock was nearly triple normalactivity Friday, thanks to a rumor the company was acquiring SonatInc. Sonat share trading was more than five times the usual volumeas well. Friday El Paso closed down 2 15/16 at 35 _. Sonat closedup 3 1/16 at 30 3/16. El Paso’s 52-week range is 24 11/16 to 393/8, and Sonat’s 52-week range is 23 9/16 to 45.
Bearish Overtones Send March Futures Down a Nickel
The March futures contract lost 5.3 cents to settle Wednesday at$1.765, thanks to what sources believe was a combination of weaktechnical and fundamental factors. “Today’s drop in the Marchcontract was actually a response to a failure at the 18-day movingaverage for March of $1.824,” one trader said, although otherschimed in many people sold ahead of what they thought would be abearish AGA storage report. Sure enough, the actual report came inat 78 Bcf of withdrawals, which is “significantly” lower than the102 Bcf of gas withdrawn during the same period last year.
PG&E Earnings Rise Sligthly, Non-Utility Operations Improve
Thanks to a strong fourth quarter, San Francisco-based PG&ECorp. earnings increased slightly in 1998, mainly due toimprovements in its nonutility operations, particularly in theelectricity businesses. Merchant natural gas operations lost moneyoverall because of Texas operations that continued to operate inthe red.
PG&E’s Unregulated Businesses Grow But Still Lose Money
Thanks to a strong fourth quarter, San Francisco-based PG&ECorp. earnings increased slightly in 1998, mainly due toimprovements in its nonutility operations, particularly in theelectricity businesses. Merchant natural gas operations lost moneyoverall because of Texas operations that continued to operate inthe red.