Ways

Teaming up to offer the natural gas distribution and pipelinemarket more ways to manage business with their shippers andconnected operators over the Internet, Houston-based Altra EnergyTechnologies Inc. and Salt Lake City’s Questar InfoComm last weekunveiled a web-based module to eliminate imbalance problems thatsometimes occur when doing business in cyberspace.

Teaming up to offer the natural gas distribution and pipelinemarket more ways to manage business with their shippers andconnected operators over the Internet, Houston-based Altra EnergyTechnologies Inc. and Salt Lake City’s Questar InfoComm yesterdayunveiled a web-based module to eliminate imbalance problems thatsometimes happen when doing business in cyberspace.

Merrill Lynch has been hired to serve as Avista Labs’ investmentbank and strategic adviser to evaluate the best ways to maximizethe shareholder value of its fuel cell technology. Avista Corp. ofSpokane, WA made the announcement yesterday, and said that MerrillLynch will “consider all possible options, including financialrestructuring and an initial public offering.” Avista Labs recentlyreceived a comprehensive patent securing the exclusive modulardesign of its PEM fuel cell system, a “plug and play” feature thatallows fuel cell cartridges to be easily removed and replacedwithout interrupting power. The Labs arm of Avista Corp. is a jointdevelopment agreement with UOP to integrate its fuel cell with thenatural gas and propane fuel processor systems of UOP. Later thisyear, field testing will begin for the integrated units of UOP.Currently, Avista Labs is testing its fuel cell subracks in severallocations across the country, including Arizona Public Service inPhoenix, the Fuel Cell Test and Evaluation Center in Johnstown,PA., Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, FL, and as back-uppower within the Avista Utilities service territory in the PacificNorthwest.

Like a bouncing ball, natural gas futures continued to chopsideways yesterday as scale down buyers took advantage of lowprices afforded them by the market’s dip Wednesday. The Augustcontract finished up 3.3 cents at $2.179, and in doing so continuedits five-day streak of alternating advances and losses.

Sources were searching for new ways of expressing “flat” as1999’s relative lack of volatility in day trading continued Monday.A lot of zeroes were showing up in the average-change column of theprice table even as lack of fundamentals again failed to depresscash numbers. A Southwest trader reporting “not much demand andplenty of supply available” was surprised that prices weren’t goingdown.

The “catastrophic” impact of anemic crude oil prices on domesticoil and gas producers will require Congress and the Clintonadministration to take “extraordinary” measures to resuscitate an”industry that is on its knees,” lawmakers on the Senate Energy andNatural Resources Committee said last week.

Dynegy has agreed to manage all of Rochester Gas &Electric’s (RG&E) gas supply, transportation and storageassets, and help find ways to cut costs and optimize assets.

The coming Foothills/Northern Border expansion will impact gasprices and gas flows in several ways, according to a new report byPIRA Energy Group. Foothills/Northern Border will carry 700 MMcf/dfrom Alberta to the Midwest. Completion is expected Nov. 1.

Late-April prices maintained their weakening ways Friday,although most of the declines were not as steep as on “BlackThursday,” as one producer called it. The largest drops tended tobe concentrated at Western points, especially with Malin andPG&E citygates falling at double-digit rates again. Theirsoftness was exacerbated by PG&E’s Stage 2 OFO that becameeffective Saturday. The OFO, prompted by high system linepack,carried penalties of $5/dth for any deliveries exceeding 110% of acustomer’s nominated volumes.