Uncertain

Conference Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) on Friday postponed a conference vote on the broad energy bill that was scheduled for Tuesday and scrubbed plans to release the conference report, citing the failure of the House-Senate tax writers to settle their differences on a number of controversial tax items.

Although it acknowledged political and regulatory factors that continue to be uncertain, Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services reported last Thursday sighting “signs of life” in California’s private-sector utilities. The uncertainties that still cloud the state’s energy picture go well beyond the outcome of the proposed new settlement plan for bankruptcy-bound Pacific Gas and Electric Co., according to S&P brief analysis, “California’s Utilities: Another Step Forward?”

Some traders were getting that roller-coaster feeling when prices fell sharply across the board Thursday, only a day after most of the market resumed an uphill trek that had been interrupted by Tuesday’s general flatness. The feeling was enhanced by screen hints that a rebound might be due Friday.

Despite the intensification of Isidore to a category 2 hurricane Friday morning, natural gas futures shuffled lower throughout the session as traders liquidated long positions acquired during last week’s 50-cent price spike. At $3.758, the October contract was down nearly 20 cents from Thursday’s high and 9.8 cents lower on the day, but still 29.1 cents higher for the week. Volume was heavy for a Friday, with an estimated 97,137 contracts changing hands.

Rising oil prices, a relatively cooler March and April, an improving economic picture and a production decrease all contributed to higher than expected natural gas prices over the past few months, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook released last Monday.

California’s second merchant underground natural gas storage project prepares to start up commercial operations this week at Lodi, CA, about 50 miles south of Sacramento, but backers at Houston-based Western Hub Properties still face two pieces of unfinished business.

California’s second merchant underground natural gas storage project prepares to start up commercial operations the week of Dec. 17 at Lodi, CA, about 50 miles south of Sacramento, but it backers at Houston-based Western Hub Properties still face two pieces of unfinished business.

The cash market appeared to be entering a holding stage Wednesday as moderate upticks earlier in the week yielded to a mix of flat, slightly higher and slightly lower pricing that tended to be dominated by mild gains. The slowdown in price movement largely was attributed to cool-downs in the Northeast and Midwest market areas, reducing the air conditioning load that had supported the previous advances.

In separate financial moves this week, Edison International, the parent of near-bankrupt Southern California Edison, and the State of California will be looking at separate bond issues for which the financial markets have little appetite. They could be harbingers of Wall Street’s ultimate level of acceptance of the state’s planned largest public bond sale ever in late August or early September.