Volumes

Gas production looks a little thin for the third quarter with 18 companies (22% of total U.S. production) so far reporting volumes (8,865 MMcf/d) down 0.3% from the second quarter and 7.3% from year-ago levels, according to statistics compiled by Thomas Driscoll of Lehman Brothers.

Although as of Thursday morning it was still projecting linepack volumes above its maximum target level for Friday and Saturday, Pacific Gas & Electric did not extend a high-inventory OFO beyond Thursday.

Volumes and prices of spot electricity bought by California in March increased above the first two months of this year, according to statistics released last week by the state’s power-buying agency, the Department of Water Resources (DWR). For the first two months of the year, the state continued to sell excess power at about half the price it paid for it. No sales statistics were released for March.

For 2001, gas-rich Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. saw a 21% increase in production volumes and benefited from early-year natural gas prices and favorable hedge positions between February and October 2001. However, the Houston-based company was hit late in the year with credit exposure related to Enron Corp.’s bankruptcy, and combined with other special items, reported overall losses of more than $10 million. For the entire year, however, Cabot set unprecedented income records of $56.7 million, or $1.87 per share, with discretionary cash flow of $231.2 million, or $7.64 per share.

Growth in production volumes and higher commodity prices in the first half of 2001 contributed to Houston-based independent Ocean Energy Inc.’s best annual financial performance in history, the company announced Thursday. Ocean reported 2001 net income of $278 million or $1.55 per diluted share, excluding special items, compared to 2000 net income of $228 million or $1.31 per diluted share, excluding special items. The first three quarters boosted the final quarter, however, with net income of $23 million or $0.13 per diluted share, excluding special items compared to net income of $80 million or $0.46 per diluted share a year earlier.

Due to high acid gas volumes at the inlet of Pine River Gas Plant impacting some shippers’ firm entitlement/production, Westcoast reduced the plant’s acid gas capacity volume Thursday morning to about 91.4 MMcf/d until further notice.

FERC has issued final certificates to Southern Natural Gas to serve new power generation in Alabama and to Tennessee Gas Pipeline to increase firm takeaway capacity at connections with Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and Portland Natural Gas Transmission in Massachusetts in order to increase the supply of Canadian natural gas to New England power plants.

TransCanada PipeLines’ fast action last week in replacing its support for Millennium Pipeline — for the time being at least — with a less environmentally challenged new export route to the northeastern United States is just the latest action in the pipeline company’s campaign to drum up increased traffic or raise its rates to cover what it calls the costs of competition.

TransCanada PipeLines’ fast action last week in replacing the abandoned Millennium Pipeline proposal — for the time being, at least — with a less environmentally-challenged new export route to the northeastern United States, is just the latest action in the pipeline company’s campaign to drum up increased traffic or raise its rates to cover what it calls the costs of competition.