Tightening

The dramatic tightening of money and credit markets, combined with plunging equity markets over the last few weeks, have exposed natural gas, oil and other commodities to “major downside risks,” a Deutsche Bank analyst said Friday.

UBS became the latest casualty of the economic crisis Friday as the financial bank reported it is tightening its focus on its “core strengths,” cutting jobs and downsizing some businesses, while exiting others completely. The company, which was ranked by NGI as the twelfth largest North American natural gas marketer during the second quarter of this year, said it is exiting commodities trading — with the exception of precious metals — in its Fixed Income business.

UBS became the latest casualty of the economic crisis on Friday as the financial bank reported it is tightening its focus on its “core strengths,” cutting jobs and downsizing some businesses, while exiting others completely. The company, which was ranked by NGI as the twelfth largest North American natural gas marketer during the second quarter of this year, said it is exiting commodities trading — with the exception of precious metals — in its Fixed Income business.

Florida Gas Transmission kept an Overage Alert Day in place for a seventh straight day Wednesday. After tightening the tolerance for negative daily imbalances to 15% Tuesday, the pipeline relaxed the tolerance to its original 25% Wednesday.

In light of the potential effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on fuel supplies and tightening supplies of natural gas in the Northeast generally, ISO New England (ISO-NE) “is becoming increasingly concerned about the operational reliability of the New England system during the upcoming winter,” the grid operator disclosed in a recent filing submitted to federal energy regulators [ER03-563-053].

A tightening squeeze by high fuel prices and a regional surplus of generating capacity is pushing Alberta toward adding electricity to its traditional product lines of natural gas and oil as Canada’s principal energy exporting jurisdiction.

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group on Thursday proposed tightening executive compensation policies to end the use of stock option grants. The plan, which must be approved by shareholders, would make the awarding of share bonuses to its directors dependent on the company’s performance.

With companies in all sectors tightening their waist line in the currently tough economic times, the outlook for the North American diversified natural gas transmission companies is stable, according to Mihoko Manabe, Moody’s vice president and senior credit officer. She noted that these companies are generally pulling back to focus on their regulated, low-risk businesses, working to reduce debt and enhance liquidity, and simplifying their business models.

With companies in all sectors tightening their waist line in the currently tough economic times, the outlook for the North American diversified natural gas transmission companies is stable, according to Mihoko Manabe, Moody’s vice president and senior credit officer. She noted that these companies are generally pulling back to focus on their regulated, low-risk businesses, working to reduce debt and enhance liquidity, and simplifying their business models.