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Shippers on the Northern Natural Gas system called on FERC toreject the pipeline’s latest tariff proposal because they say ittries to pass off index-based rates as “discounted” rates ratherthan negotiated rates.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. and EOG Resources Inc. said theyexchanged certain oil and gas assets to enhance each company’sfocus on exploration and production and achieve cost savingsthrough operational synergies. Occidental received producingproperties and exploration acreage in its expanding Californiaasset base, as well as producing properties in the western Gulf ofMexico near existing operations. The exchange increased EOGResources’ gas production and reserves in East Texas, where italready has a significant presence, and will add to its drillingportfolio in the Oklahoma panhandle.

It is often said markets can fall twice as fast as they rise,and that has never been more evident than it was in the natural gasfutures market over the past two weeks. After all, what took bullsfive and a half days to produce, took the bears just two and a halfto knock down. With a 7.8-cent decline to settle at $2.444, theJanuary contract was 26 cents below Monday’s highs and 0.2 centsbelow its Dec. 10 settle.

Traders made it two in a row yesterday at the New YorkMercantile Exchange as they covered shorts and bid up natural gasprices for the second straight session ahead of cooler weatherexpected next week.

As had been expected, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)yesterday approved the $81 billion combination of Exxon and Mobil.The companies said they have accepted the terms of the FTC consentorder.

Nymex bears got their Thanksgiving feast a few days earlyyesterday when they were greeted with a hearty helping ofprice-negative fundamental and technical news. And even before theopening bell sounded that sentiment was evident in the price levelas over the counter deals traded at a dime below Friday’s close.After opening at $2.34, the December contract tumbled lower to newlife-of-contract-lows before settling at $2.197, down a whopping23.7 cents or 8% for the day. Heavy estimated volume of 120,326served to punctuate the price move.

Average on-site energy consumption per household dropped by 27%between 1978 and 1997 while the number of U.S. households increasedby 33%, resulting in no change in total on-site residential energyconsumption over that 20-year period, according to a report fromthe Energy Information Administration (EIA). If the amount ofprimary energy required to generate and transmit the electricityconsumed by households is considered, then the decline inper-household energy consumption is only 16% because electricity’sshare of total household energy consumption increased between 1978and 1997.

Cash prices Monday recovered all or most of the territory theyhad lost on Friday-and even more in some cases. Buoyed by a sharplyhigher screen and even a bit of re-emerging air conditioning load,cash numbers moved up by about a dime or more at virtually allpoints except Northern California, topped off by scattered gains of20-21 cents. Even crude oil futures, which had been in free-falllate last week, added a little psychological strength by clawingtheir way back above $21/bbl.

Producers – and the lawyers, brokers and analysts they breakbread with – received a second helping of what was for lunch eightmonths ago at Houston’s Petroleum Club: a bullish outlook for gasprices.