Think

If you think it’s frigid now, next week is going to be “brutal,”according to a short-term weather forecast issued by Salomon SmithBarney yesterday.

Is the market in early meltdown stage? At least one traderthought so, saying, “Yep, it sure looks that way” after the screentacked on a second straight day of double-digit losses Wednesdayand was joined by the cash market recording price drops rangingbetween a dime and a little more than 20 cents.

The meltdown in weekend prices Friday made at least one traderthink of Chernobyl. A few points fell only a little more than 15cents, but a majority of the declines exceeded 20 cents, andOFO-infested California numbers were down about half a dollar atthe border.

While it might think the April Fool’s date is appropriate forNew York to impose a new energy tax, the National Energy MarketersAssociation (NEM) still opposes the plan. “On April 1, 2000, NewYork will impose a new tax on natural gas and electricitytransportation. This new tax will severely limit furtherdevelopment of energy competition,” said NEM President CraigGoodman.

After grousing that it didn’t think any changes to its existingpro-rata capacity allocation procedures were “necessary orappropriate,” El Paso Natural Gas reluctantly last week compliedwith FERC’s order and submitted a proposal for a new allocationscheme that would assign “pathed” rights for delivery of a portionof the primary firm gas volumes transported over its system to theCalifornia border.

They might both be majors, but Chevron U.S.A. Production Co. andShell Exploration & Production Co. still think it’s wise to notgo it alone in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The companieshave agreed to share drilling rigs and jointly drill twoexploratory wells there this year.

Some sources seemed to think the cash market was manufacturingprice increases out of nothing Thursday. Others, however, said mildsupport from the futures trading pit combined with a cold frontmoving towards the East Coast to generate price firmness rangingfrom flat to up about a nickel. For a change there was nogeographic pattern in the market as the price gains tended to bescattered across all regions.

Think anything but gas is the way to go for the energyindustry’s future? Forget about it. Gas is where it’s at and whereit will continue to be for some time, Coastal CEO David Arledgetold a room full of producers in Houston at the Texas IndependentProducers &amp Royalty Owners Association’s (TIPRO) luncheon lastweek.

Think anything but gas is the way to go for the energyindustry’s future? Forget about it. Gas is where it’s at and whereit will continue to be for some time, Coastal CEO David Arledgetold a room full of producers in Houston at the Texas IndependentProducers & Royalty Owners Association’s (TIPRO) Tuesdayluncheon yesterday.