Triple

Triple-digit spikes at Northeast citygates stood out amid otherwise mixed pricing Friday that nevertheless had a major bias toward the upside. The extra Northeast strength was hardly surprising, since that region was destined to bear the brunt of a weekend return to widespread, very cold weather.

Williams’ exploration and production (E&P) business is expected to at least triple the number of its subsurface drilling locations in the Trail Ridge area of the northern Piceance Basin after winning approval of its application for 10-acre bottom-hole well density from the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission.

In a tremendously weak beginning of the November aftermarket, triple-digit plunges — some exceeding $2 — permeated Monday’s quotes. Power generation loads were light as mild to cool temperatures prevailed in most areas, and last Friday’s screen dive of more than 60 cents added further downward pressure on cash quotes.

Triple-digit price increases dominated the cash market Monday as Hurricane Katrina caused the shut-in of 8.3 Bcf/d, or more than four-fifths of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) natural gas production. Questar was the only pipe that failed to break the $9 level, and $10-plus averages were rampant throughout eastern markets.

With modest increases in cooling load starting to return in sections of the South and West and widespread triple-digit highs continuing to plague the desert Southwest and Midcontinent, a solid majority of points were in rally mode Wednesday. Gains ranged from a couple of pennies at Henry Hub to about 20 cents.

Much like last month’s swing market ended on Oct. 28, triple-digit price losses were the order of the day at all points Friday. Moderating weekend weather trends in the South, Midwest, Northeast and parts of the West, along with the previous day’s plunges in energy futures and the bearish psychology of record storage inventories, were chiefly responsible for the tremendous softening.

Much like last month’s swing market ended on Oct. 28, triple-digit price losses were the order of the day at all points Friday. Moderating weekend weather trends in the South, Midwest, Northeast and parts of the West, along with the previous day’s plunges in energy futures and the bearish psychology of record storage inventories, were chiefly responsible for the tremendous softening.

With wildfires, threatened transmission systems and triple digit statewide temperatures, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) ended another week of consecutive all-time peak-demand records, topping the 45,000 MW level twice, but managing to avoid calling any power alerts.

A group of West Virginia oil and natural gas producers have called on FERC to block a proposal that would permit Equitrans LP to refunctionalize a portion of its transmission and storage facilities in order to create a “second tier” of gathering on its system, a move that producers say could result in the tripling of their existing gas gathering costs.