Used

Natural gas prices just aren’t what they used to be, according to Denver-based Western Gas Resources Inc., which reported net income for the second quarter down, despite a dramatic increase in production.

Williams Cos. employees used to “living on Tulsa time” may have to reset their watches in the next few weeks, after the company last week began following through on plans to slash its workforce payroll up to one third, slicing about 4,000 positions eventually through asset sales, retirement and layoffs. Most of the affected employees will no longer be Williams employees when the assets are sold, but the internal cuts will be deeply felt in the wounded energy trading unit in Tulsa, where at least 100 were expecting a final paycheck last week.

Williams Cos. employees used to “living on Tulsa time” may have to reset their watches in the next few weeks, after an internal company memo announced that the Oklahoma-based company will slash its workforce payroll up to one-third, slicing about 4,000 positions through asset sales, retirement and layoffs. Most of the affected employees will no longer be Williams employees when the asset sales are completed, but the cuts will be deeply felt in the already wounded energy trading unit in Tulsa, where at least 100 will get a final paycheck in the next few days, and up to 330 in the next two months. London is expected to trim up to 70 European traders, while Houston could lose up to 25.

Natural gas futures continued its astonishing rally yesterday as fund and local traders used Friday’s strong close as a springboard to a gap-higher open. Bears only hope came in the form of a weak mid-morning sell-off. But when that weakness failed to fill in the chart gap down to $3.08, bulls were quick to bid the market right back up. The April contract closed at $3.305, up 22.9 cents for the session and just below the contract’s four-and-a-half-month high notched Oct. 31 at $3.32.

As posted earlier (see Daily GPI, Oct. 16), Sonat has determined that the three compressors used for injection and compressed withdrawal at the Muldon (MS) Storage Facility cannot be operated in their current condition. Repairs are under way on two units, and one is currently expected to return to service by Thanksgiving. A second unit is expected to be back on-line during the upcoming winter. However, personnel have determined that the third unit cannot be repaired and thus are evaluating replacement options. Sonat expects that replacement parts for the third unit will be installed and it will be available for service in April 2002. The Daily Injection Quantity for each CSS customer will remain at 36% of normal until further notice, but will increase by about 21 percentage points for each unit that is placed back in service. The Daily Withdrawal Quantity will remain at 100% until further notice. “However, if compressed withdrawal is required prior to all three compressor units being placed back in service, some reduction in DWQ is possible,” Sonat said, although that likely would not occur until late winter.

Citing fully used capacity, warmer weather in its market area and lower overall linepack, Florida Gas Transmission issued Tuesday an Overage Alert Day notice with 10% tolerance for negative daily imbalances.

Far from the opening federal settlement hearing in Washington, DC, on potential electricity refunds, California’s Gov. Gray Davis used the bully pulpit of orchestrated media events Monday in Sacramento to drive home his contention that his state’s consumers have been “ripped off,” and they have up to $9 billion in refunds coming to them.

NACE International has opened a Pipeline and Tank Training Field in Houston, which will be used to train students in corrosion control, simulating conditions surrounding storage tanks and buried pipe. The field site will serve as a tool to certify personnel worldwide, and it is equipped to illustrate several techniques and survey methods to test and monitor the performance of pipe systems. NACE is a professional technical society that provides education and communicates information on the effects of corrosion. To learn more about the training program, call Ray Poltorak or Trevor Eade at (281) 228-6200.

Dow Hydrocarbons and Resources Inc. has renewed its contract touse Planalytic’s Weathernomics Gas Buyer to help manage natural gascosts. The Web-based tool is used for financial risk management tobuy and sell natural gas, suggesting specific buying actions toreduce risk presented by the weather in gas prices for up to oneyear into the future.