Tightening

Duke Energy Corp. told employees this week that poor market conditions affecting its merchant energy operations and milder weather that has negatively impacted its North Carolina utility sales will force the company to take additional cost cutting measures this year, including possible job reductions and project delays, in order to meet its earnings per share target of $1.35-60 in 2003.

The saturated power market and significant downsizing and belt tightening among merchant energy companies will result in a sharp decline in the number of gas-fired power plants added to the market over the rest of the decade. “The construction boom is finally nearing its end,” Virginia-based consulting firm Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) said in its latest Monthly Gas Update.

The saturated power market and significant downsizing and belt tightening among merchant energy companies will result in a sharp decline in the number of gas-fired power plants added to the market over the rest of the decade. “The construction boom is finally nearing its end,” Virginia-based consulting firm Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) said in its latest Monthly Gas Update.

Pacific Gas & Electric extended Saturday’s Stage 2 high-inventory OFO through Sunday, tightening the imbalance tolerance from 7% to 2%, but then lifted it Monday.

The apparent tightening in the gas market, combined with strong heating demand and the related strong storage draw in the past few weeks have set the stage for higher natural gas prices, at least into early next year, according to Lehman Brothers analyst Thomas Driscoll.

Stemming the selling pressure set in motion by Wednesday’s storage report, the natural gas futures market rebounded mid-morning Thursday as traders contemplated a supply-demand balance that may be tighter than previously thought. In a rare twist, the 12-month strip gained more (9.5 cents) than either the winter strip (9 cents) or the prompt month (6.8 cents). November closed at $2.486, just off its daily high at $2.51.

The growth of global liquefied natural gas trade because of soaring gas prices in the United States last winter is tightening the linkage between U.S. and European gas markets, according to a new study by DRI-WEFA Inc., a subsidiary of Global Insight Inc. The study “European Gas Supply and Demand: The Outlook to 2025” indicates that European and U.S. gas prices now will be more closely tied together because of the burgeoning global commodity.

The growth of global liquefied natural gas trade because of soaring gas prices in the United States last winter is tightening the linkage between U.S. and European gas markets, according to a new study by DRI-WEFA Inc., a subsidiary of Global Insight Inc. The study “European Gas Supply and Demand: The Outlook to 2025” indicates that European and U.S. gas prices now will be more closely tied together because of the rapidly developing international LNG trade.

Expect additional staff reductions, office closures andregulated rate changes in the near future at TransCanada PipeLines,Gary Mihaichuk, president of transmission, said in an interviewwith NGI last week.