Triggers

It was ironic yesterday that the power grid operator in NewEngland, ISO New England, issued a power watch on the same day itassured the public it would have adequate power supplies thissummer. Remember, it’s only May.

The groundhog must have chewed a hole into a CNG storagefacility, judging from the massive withdrawal that the American GasAssociation reported last week. At 242 Bcf, the withdrawal ranks asthe third largest since AGA started its survey six years ago. Itwas the largest for the last week in January.

You could have got a nose bleed watching gas futures yesterday.A 1.5-cent gap higher to $2.700/MMBtu at the opening bell triggereda buying panic that sent October Henry Hub futures up 23.9 cents to$2.851. Estimated volume came in at a massive 116,601 contracts.

The overall cash market drifted lower Friday, with quotesranging from essentially flat into Northwest for both domestic andCanadian gas to nearly 15 cents lower at the PG&E citygate. Thegeneral softness primarily was a function of the usual weekenddropoff in gas load, sources said.

In a major clarification of policy, FERC decided it wasn’tnecessary to address the merits of each objection before approvingcontested pipeline rate settlements. Instead, it said settlementscould be ratified based on the reasonableness of the overallpackage. The policy adjustment was reflected in a rehearing orderthat approved a rate settlement between Trailblazer Pipeline andits customers as being “reasonable as a package” for consentingparties, yet at the same time severed contesting parties, AmocoProduction and Amoco Energy. The action cleared the way forconsenting parties to maintain the benefits of their settlementbargain while giving the Amoco affiliates a chance to litigate the”complex factual issues” that they raised [RP97-408-006].

The near two-week futures rally from an apparent winter lowcontinued yesterday during the regular trading session helped by amajor winter storm that swept through the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic andNortheast and about a dime rise in cash prices. The April contractbroke through strong resistance and posted a new high of $1.965before backtracking to a low of $1.885 and then rebounding to closethe day up 1.3 cents at $1.941/MMBtu. A less-than-expected storagewithdrawal of 69 Bcf, however, helped push futures down sharplyduring the overnight Access trading session. As of 6:30 p.m. (EST),April was down 4.1 cents from the close to $1.900.