Themselves

Environmental protesters chained themselves to horizontal directional drilling machinery last Monday in opposition to Northwest Pipeline’s construction of the Grays Harbor Lateral in Washington state, law enforcement authorities and pipeline officials said.

As some of the big name energy merchants continue to divest themselves of energy service operations, smaller companies such as Richmond, VA-based Compass Energy Services Inc. and Framingham, MA-based Ameresco Inc. are filling in the niche by offering end users all-encompassing custom solutions for their energy needs. The trend is evident across the nation as companies like Duke Energy and Dominion Resources move away from some of their energy service business to focus more on their core competencies.

Overall, business for some of the major natural gas industry players — El Paso Corp., Kinder Morgan Inc., Duke Energy, Williams, Dynegy Corp., Calpine Corp. and Mirant — is “good,” but “first they need to show that their businesses have no similarity to Enron’s,” said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Curt Launer. Launer recapped CSFB’s outlook for the natural gas sector, joined by power analysts to review what’s ahead for the gas and power industry.

Overall, business for some of the major natural gas industry players — El Paso Corp., Kinder Morgan Inc., Duke Energy, Williams, Dynegy Corp., Calpine Corp. and Mirant — is “good,” but “first they need to show that their businesses have no similarity to Enron’s,” said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Curt Launer. He recapped CSFB’s outlook for the natural gas sector, joined by power analysts to review what’s ahead for the gas and power industry.

The news was just too good to keep to themselves. UtiliCorp United bragged last Thursday that its infant spin-off, Aquila Inc. would show second quarter results up 300%, and since the proud parent holds 80% of Aquila, UtiliCorp’s earnings are expected to be up 300% as well.

Restraining themselves on what challenges, if any, will be made to the federal wholesale power price mitigation ordered Monday, both friends and foes of price caps expressed skepticism Tuesday about the prospects for the new wholesale price limits in the western states.

With the tight gas supply and demand situation today, some power plants may find themselves stranded unless they’ve already locked up gas supplies — and some of the projected gas-fired generation projects could be delayed, Offshore Technology Conference attendees heard last week. Gas inventories and demand will be tight for two or three years, putting more pressure on the infrastructure to expand.

Following a lackluster rally attempt last Thursday, bears in the natural gas pit reasserted themselves Friday, pressuring the spot month lower for the tenth time in the last eleven trading session. Buoyed by overnight short-covering, the June contract was fast out of the chute at the opening bell, as it broke above Thursday’s $4.55 high. However, the buying pressure dried up at about 10:00 A.M. (EST) leaving the market susceptible to a sell-off. At the closing bell, June was 3.7 cents lower at $4.490.

With the tight gas supply and demand situation today, some power plants may find themselves stranded unless they’ve already locked up gas supplies — and some of the projected gas-fired generation projects could be delayed, Offshore Technology Conference attendees heard this week. Gas inventories and demand will be tight for two or three years, putting more pressure on the infrastructure to expand.