Turning

Cash prices were unable to sustain this week’s earlier upwardmomentum and were turning modestly softer Wednesday. Severalsources expected declines to grow greater today since most of thescreen’s dive of nearly a dime Wednesday followed release of AGA’sstorage report, well after cash trading had been completed.

Formed when one day’s high is lower than the next days’ low,chart gaps are a technical feature that garner plenty of marketattention. And the natural gas futures market has had more than itsshare of gaps during the month of April. There are theyet-to-be-filled daily continuation chart gaps at $2.90-92 and$3.03-045 as well as the $3.08-11 gap that was filled in by the Maycontract just prior to its expiry Wednesday. All told, May’s tenureas prompt month could be easily described as tight, choppytechnical trading. Only once during that period did May have adaily trading range that exceeded a dime (April 4).

Now turning its acquisitive eye to Kansas, Midcoast Energy Resources Inc. plans to acquire Kansas Pipeline Co. (KPC), MarGasCo Partnership (MarGasCo) and other related assets.

Very mild softness was the dominant feature of the cash marketTuesday with a few points turning in basically flat showings.Others were off by up to a nickel. Prices started off near theirlow points but were able to rebound a few cents later in thetrading cycle, sources in the Gulf Coast and Rockies/Southwestsaid.

Thanks partly to decisions in the United States, Canadians areturning up the heat under hot drilling plays along the Albertafoothills of the Rocky Mountains and in northeastern BritishColumbia. Chevron Canada’s western exploration manager, LarryStewart, revealed to a session of financial analysts howAmerican-held hot prospects of filling expanding export pipelinesare being opened up to Canadian-owned firms.

Thanks partly to decisions in the United States, Canadians areturning up the heat under hot drilling plays along the Albertafoothills of the Rocky Mountains and in northeastern BritishColumbia. Chevron Canada’s western exploration manager, LarryStewart, revealed in a session of financial analysts howAmerican-held hot prospects of filling expanding export pipelinesare being opened up to Canadian-owned firms.

Slowly but surely the faux summer that much of the eastern U.S.has experienced recently is turning into “real summer,” a marketernoted. But even that and a moderate gain by the August Henry Hubfutures contract were not enough to avert softening at most cashtrading points Thursday. Eastern declines tended to be minuscule,with a few points staying flat and few others falling by more than1-2 cents. But an easing of Southwest supply constraints andgenerally cooler weather in the West caused larger price drops inthe West, topped by a loss of several cents in the San Juan Basin.

Not content to converge just with electricity, the gas industryis turning to telecommunications. Specifically, pipelines arefinding their rights of way make sense for the routing offiber-optic telecommunications cable.

Thanks, but no thanks. Texaco continues to go it alone after turning down a merger offer from Chevron last week.