Tuesday

The April Nymex contract returned to its recent habit of tightdaily trading ranges Tuesday by containing its movements between$2.295 and $2.345. That tight range only allowed April to lose 2.1cents for the day to $2.330, despite the fact that nearly 60,000total estimated contracts changed hands.

Shell Oil Tuesday announced its designs on the retail gas andpower marketplace and said its Shell Energy Services willparticipate in the unbundling of Georgia’s Atlanta Gas Lightsystem. The company plans to serve residential and commercialcustomers. Other states Shell will target for retail sales are notyet known, but Shell Energy Services President Alan M. Raymond saidthe company is interested in California’s deregulated electricitymarket as well as competitive markets in the Northeast. “We will beapplying to become marketers in those states where the deregulationallows us to function, and then we’ll be setting up shop to appealto those customers.”

The April Nymex contract once again failed to break above majorresistance at $2.19 on Tuesday, and as a result, the spot monthfinished the day down 3.2 cents to $2.137. Total estimated volumecame in at 34,371.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin Tuesday approved gassupply agreements between a coalition of state utilities and fourCanadian suppliers for up to 105 Bcf/year for five years to bedelivered through the proposed Viking Voyageur pipeline.

NGPL restored full nominations Friday at six wells on the NorthCuster gathering line in Custer County, OK. The wells had been cutto 1 MMbtu/d Tuesday after a line leak was discovered.

Texas Utilities Co. Tuesday acquired 72,560,178 Energy GroupShares at 840 pence/share, representing about 13.9% of The EnergyGroup’s issued share capital. The 840 pence/share offer was thelatest in the bidding war between TXU and PacifiCorp for theBritish Utility.

The March Nymex contract turned in another heavily tradedsession on Tuesday, but once again, volatility was virtuallynon-existent. Although the spot month managed a 3.7 cent gain to$2.216, the contract was held to a relatively tight 5.5 centtrading band. Not even the expiration of options yesterday couldpersuade traders to push March out of its recent rigid tradinglimits.