Trend

Most of the cash market leveled off Wednesday, with few pointsstraying more than a penny or two to either side of flatness. TheRockies, where weather is currently chilliest, recorded most of thegains of 3 or more cents. Although the screen eventually achieved again of more than 3 cents, cash had only moderate softness infutures as a morning influence.

Perched at recent highs and just below contract resistance at$2.19, the May contract was poised to continue higher yesterday.And after opening at $2.17 local buying pushed prices to $2.189 inchoppy trading. But despite the bullish euphoria the market hadbefore the open, locals received little help from other marketsegments early yesterday and were forced to cover their longpositions Tuesday afternoon. The resultant sell-off left the promptmonth down 2.5 cents to $2.144.

The drop in gas load that usually accompanies a weekendreduction of business activity failed to dampen the cash market’sbullishness Friday. Though a few points (El Paso-Permian andTrunkline-South Texas) eked out only penny upticks and CIG and Wahawere essentially flat, most markets achieved gains of 3-7 cents.Influencing factors were unchanged from earlier in the week,sources said: Western cold, Southern heat, a higher screen andelectric utilities using gas in peaking units while many nuclearand coal plants are down for refueling or other maintenance.

Signaling what could become a trend among large producers, Shellyesterday said it is stepping into the independent power generationbusiness with partner Bechtel Enterprises.

Six inches of snow in New York wasn’t enough to convince futurestraders to resume the up-trend the American Gas Association storagereport so thoroughly wiped out last week. The April contract movedsharply lower for the third session in a row, closing down 4.2cents to $1.717. Shortly before the close, the contract broke belowwhat was deemed a key support level at $1.70 to post a low of$1.695 for the day. The $1.755 high was reached just after theopening bell.

Prices for the concluding weekend of February maintained thesoftening trend that had started earlier in the week, ranging fromflat to a little over a dime lower. And although swing gas tradedFriday for today’s flow only was flat at a few points, most sourcesagreed that the initial March aftermarket was trending downwardoverall from both bidweek indexes and weekend levels.

For the third day in a row, the futures market caved under heavyselling pressure Wednesday as traders anxiously unloaded longpositions and initiated fresh shorts. Even major support at $2.24offered bulls no reprieve as sellers pushed the December contractdown 7.5 cents to settle at $2.204.

The Coastal Corp benefited from its mix of producer and pipelineoperations, announcing a 17% jump from 3Q 1997 on a per-sharebasis. Coastal earned $89.5 million, or 41 cents/share, compared to$80.4 million, or 35 cents/share in 3Q 1997. Along with earnings,the company reiterated its commitment to the North American gassector, calling it the best energy investment opportunity anywhere.

ARCO said it will implement a cost reduction program designed toreduce before-tax costs by more than $500 million over the next twoyears. Approximately $350 million of the cost savings are expectedin 1999. The cost reductions will fall largely into fourcategories: upstream operating and support costs; explorationspending; downstream operating and support costs; and costs for thecorporate center and support services. ARCO’s increasedconcentration on core exploration and production areas and therecent divesting of non-strategic assets have facilitated theadditional cost reductions.