Tight

With the current difference between the injection season (May-October) futures strip and the futures strip for next winter (December-March) at only about 11 cents, something clearly has to give, Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) said in its Monthly Gas Update. Injection season-withdrawal season spreads are only about 3 cents currently, not even close to the amount needed to cover the cost of interruptible storage.

Answering the call for increased domestic natural gas production in the light of a tight natural gas supply market, Magnum Hunter said last week that it upped its gas production from an average of 73,424 Mcf/d during the fourth quarter of 2001 to 130,655 Mcf/d for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2002, partly due to a major acquisition.

Showing that it is stepping up production in the light of a tight natural gas supply market, Magnum Hunter said it upped its gas production from an average of 73,424 Mcf/d during the fourth quarter of 2001 to 130,655 Mcf/d for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2002, partly due to a major acquisition.

Noting that some participants in the energy sector might consider his group to be the “perpetual natural gas bulls,” Raymond James & Assoc. analyst Marshall Adkins said the market has proven that “we have, in fact, been overly bearish.” Citing the summer gas storage re-fill problem, Adkins said that Raymond James is once again upping its 2003 gas price forecast from $5/Mcf to $6/Mcf.

Noting that some participants in the energy sector might consider his group to be the “perpetual natural gas bulls,” Raymond James & Assoc. analyst Marshall Adkins said the market has once again proven that “we have, in fact, been overly bearish.” Citing the summer gas storage re-fill problem, Adkins said that Raymond James is once again upping its 2003 gas price forecast from $5/Mcf to $6/Mcf.

Despite current moderate to extreme drought conditions in the Pacific Northwest region, the Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) reiterated in a report this week that it does not expect any power supply problems this winter or next year because of about 3,000 MW of new non-hydro generation that has been built.

Despite current moderate to extreme drought conditions in the Pacific Northwest region, the Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) reiterated in a report last week that it does not expect any power supply problems this winter or next year because of about 3,000 MW of new non-hydro generation that has been built.

Riding a broad stock market rally fueled by investors looking for bargain-basement deals, Williams Cos. Inc.’s stock shot up nearly 88% to close at around $1.99 a share Monday, in spite of the company’s report earlier in the day of a major net loss for the second quarter due mostly to its floundering energy marketing and trading business, which lost nearly half a billion dollars for the period. The sharp bounce in the company’s stock, which had opened at $1.06 a share, suppressed speculation about possible bankruptcy.

Hours after the deadline passed for the White House and the Office of the Vice President to comply with congressional subpoenas, the White House late last Tuesday began turning over documents to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee related to its contacts with the now-bankrupt Enron Corp. The committee said “one box and one accordion folder of documents” had been delivered by the end of the day, containing about 2,170 pages of e-mails and other papers.