Virtual

Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar reiterated Tuesday that the Obama administration is continuing to develop draft rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in drilling operations, which he said would not slow the natural gas and oil boom.

FERC last Wednesday rejected Enstor Gulf Storage LLC’s application to operate a “virtual” Gulf Coast storage facility, saying that the company’s proposal was “deficient.”

FERC Wednesday rejected Enstor Gulf Storage LLC’s application to operate a “virtual” Gulf Coast storage facility, saying that the company’s proposal was “deficient.”

Natural gas futures were off to the races Monday morning as traders weighed the virtual certainty that Hurricane Lili would become the second storm in a week to impact production in the Gulf of Mexico. After gapping higher at the opening bell, the November contract quickly moved to a new four-month high (Access trading excluded) at $4.195 Monday morning. After dipping slightly to settle for the regular session at $4.138, the November contract was rebounding in overnight access trading. At 7:00 p.m. EDT, it last traded $4.194, up 5.6 cents from its close.

In sympathy with lower crude oil prices and in reaction to the virtual certainty that neither Tropical Storm Dolly nor Edouard will pose a threat to production, natural gas futures continued their week-long descent Tuesday as locals and commercial traders liquidated long positions. With a gap-lower open on the daily chart, bears set the tone right from the outset. However, by 11 a.m. EDT, the selling pressure had dried up, leaving the market to chop sideways throughout the rest of the session. October finished at $3.132, up 3.2 cents from its morning low, but down 16.4 cents for the day.

TradeSpark LP signed an agreement last week with Virtual Markets Assurance Corp. (VMAC) to offer VMAC’s unique (patent pending) credit transfer and netting system to energy marketers on its trading platform to work around creditworthiness problems and enable trading of illiquid commodities such as electricity and physical natural gas.

TradeSpark LP signed an agreement Tuesday with Virtual Markets Assurance Corp. (VMAC) to offer VMAC’s unique (patent pending) credit transfer and netting system to energy marketers on its trading platform to work around creditworthiness problems and enable trading of illiquid commodities such as electricity and physical natural gas.

If you were among those amazed by the virtual hailstorm ofmergers and acquisitions in the power and utility sector this year,PricewaterhouseCoopers warns, you haven’t seen anything yet.According to an M&A forecast by the Transaction Services groupwithin the firm, the “once sleepy and over-regulated [energy]industry” is the key M&A segment to watch in 2001.

If you were among those amazed by the virtual hailstorm ofmergers and acquisitions in the power and utility sector this year,PricewaterhouseCoopers warns you haven’t seen anything yet.According to an M&A forecast by the Transaction Services groupwithin the firm, the “once sleepy and over-regulated [energy]industry” is the key M&A segment to watch in 2001.