Want

While most large producers reported net income in the positivecolumn in the first quarter of 1998, it was not a quarter most willwant to remember, as returns compared to the first quarter of 1999dropped anywhere from Exxon’s relatively conservative 44% to 81%down for Enron Oil and Gas or a drop from $177 million in earningsin 1Q’98 for Occidental Petroleum to a $70 million loss in 1Q’99.

Dynegy Inc. and Chevron Corp. want FERC to either block FloridaGas Transmission’s (FGT) proposed abandonment and sale of 70 milesof mainline and associated facilities in the southern part of Texasor “at a minimum” ensure the continuity of transportation servicethere.

Dynegy Inc. and Chevron Corp. want FERC to either block FloridaGas Transmission’s (FGT) proposed abandonment and sale of 70 milesof mainline and associated facilities in the southern part of Texasor “at a minimum” ensure the continuity of transportation servicethere.

California’s experimental nonprofit electric transmission gridand wholesale spot power market operations – the Independent SystemOperator (ISO) and Power Exchange (PX), respectively – are clearlyworking toward becoming larger, multi-state regional operations,according to officials who marked the one-year anniversaries ofboth organizations March 31. A proposed new California law (SB 96)would make it easier for the state to enter compacts with otherwestern states to begin to form the regional power operations.

Industrial gas users want to “comment” on the revised and newGas Industry Standards Board’s (GISB) standards that FERC proposedfor adoption in December, but there’s only one problem – they don’tknow what they are. The Commission apparently doesn’t have a copyof the proposed changes on file, they said, and to get them fromthe standards-setting organization could cost the tidy sum of$3,500.

Industrial gas users want to “comment” on the revised and newGas Industry Standards Board’s (GISB) standards that FERC proposedfor adoption in December, but there’s only one problem – they don’tknow what they are. The Commission apparently doesn’t have a copyof the proposed changes on file, they said, and to get them fromthe standards-setting organization could cost up to $3,500.

Traders with a penchant for market volatility and large priceswings may want to think twice about scheduling that three-dayweekend. Mondays, as of late, have been a roller coaster ride fornatural gas futures, with either double- digit increases (Oct. 26and Nov. 2) or declines (Nov. 9) welcoming traders back from theweekend. And the market held true to form yesterday, when forecastscalling for normal and above-normal temperatures managed toinspire fund, local and commercial sellers to push the Decembercontract to its two-week low. But in contrast to the declines lastMonday which came in a selling frenzy during the final twentyminutes of trading, yesterday’s price erosion was an all day affairthat left December down 15.4 cents to $2.305.

The majority of residential gas customers interviewed inBrooklyn and Long Island said they want their existing utility as aprovider of choice in a competitive retail market, according tomarket research results presented by a Brooklyn Union (BU)executive yesterday. The findings fly in the face of the New YorkPublic Service Commission’s directive ordering all utilities toexit the merchant natural gas role.

If pipelines want the freedom to negotiate competitive deals,they must first get rid of the “most notorious symbol of marketpower” – the straight-fixed variable rate design (SFV) – and offervolumetric rates, Dynegy Marketing and Trade told FERC last week.