Time

The recent rash of producer spending cuts (see related story)comes at a time when the message on prices from the analystcommunity is pretty gloomy, too. “There’s not much holding [gasprices] up,” said Thomas J. Woods, Ziff Energy vice president forU.S. Gas Services. Woods said Ziff has been warning its clientsthat current prices are not supportable. “We had put out some earlywarnings in July when prices first frayed, and we said that therewas a very significant possibility that this would go [on].”

Although it was nowhere near as dramatic as the price move thatdeposited prices near all-time winter lows, last week’s futuresgains-slowly and steadily-were gaining the attention and acceptancefrom both technical and fundamental traders. And despite a largestorage surplus and continued uncertainty about winter weather, ifprices are able to trend higher into the New Year, the market willlook back at last week’s rebound as the end of the downtrend. Theprompt January contract chopped higher Friday, making daily highsby noon before softening into the closing to finish up a penny at$2.074.

Canadians are wasting no time making sure production capacitykeeps up with increases in demand for natural gas that pipelineprojects are expected to generate over the next two years,according to an annual deliverability survey released last week bythe Canadian Energy Research Institute. Not even this year’s 30%drop in oil prices hurt producer revenues and budgets enough toslow down gas development.

Canadians are wasting no time making sure production capacitykeeps up with increases in demand for natural gas that pipelineprojects are expected to generate over the next two years,according to an annual deliverability survey released last week bythe Canadian Energy Research Institute. Not even this year’s 30%drop in oil prices hurt producer revenues and budgets enough toslow down gas development.

Despite record production Enron Oil & Gas (EOG) reportedthird quarter net income of $5.9 million, down from $31.2 millionin the third quarter of 1997.

Scana Energy Marketing could have the early lead in Georgia’sretail gas market. Its mass marketing campaign and generousincentives for residential customers to switch suppliers seem tohave caught many competitors by surprise.

MCN Energy Group Inc. said yesterday it will take a year-end,one-time charge of $10 million for the first phase of its corporatereorganization, which should remove $15 million a year from itscurrent operating expenses. The realignment establishes a morestreamlined organizational structure to enhance efficiency, linesof authority and internal customer responsiveness. It includes areorganization of some upper management positions, including theretirement, effective next April, of its Vice Chairman and CFOWilliam K. McCrackin.

Baker Hughes said operating earnings before one-time charges forthe third calendar quarter will be roughly half of the 36cents/share Wall Street consensus. Baker Hughes, which merged withWestern Atlas last month , said continuing declines in activity inthe Western Hemisphere, emerging softness in several EasternHemisphere markets and modest price erosion due to activitydeclines are the reason.

The screen giveth, and the screen taketh away. Wednesday was aday of taking away much of what had been given to cash prices theday before. As traders continued to play the Hurricane Georgesguessing game (will it or won’t it get close enough to the Gulf ofMexico production area to substantially impact offshore supplies?),quotes were falling across the board but mostly by lesser amountsthan they had risen on Tuesday. With a few exceptions prices werevolatile, with ranges of a dime or more seen at many points.