Wednesday

Feeding off strength from Wednesday’s minor advance, the futuresmarket seemed to pick up momentum yesterday. A stronger open gainedapproval from eager bulls, who bid the contract steadily upwardThursday morning. Then after an early afternoon sell-off wasthwarted, prices again pressed higher, but this time buying camefrom all market segments as locals, trade, and paper players joinedthe rally. The April contract finished up 7.6 cents at $1.835.

El Paso Field Services entered the energy project financingarena with Wednesday’s purchase of En Cap Investment Co. for $52million in cash and stock. Robert Phillips, El Paso Field Services’president, said all regulatory issues have been settled and thedeal will be accretive to El Paso’s earnings beginning April 1.

The Georgia Senate approved House Bill 822 by a vote of 52-0Wednesday, paving the way for a one time, statewide customerassignment process to occur before the next heating season. Havingalready passed the House of Representatives unanimously, theamendment only needs Gov. Roy Barnes’ signature before it becomeslaw.

Texas moved a step closer to a restructured electricitymarketplace Wednesday when the state Senate approved a bill toderegulate electric utilities. The bill is now bound for the StateAffairs Committee of the House of Representatives. Hearings couldbe held as early as March 29. Gov. George W. Bush has voiced hissupport for electric deregulation.

Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 172, held Wednesday in NewOrleans, garnered nearly $171.62 million in high bids out of$199.64 million in total bids. Of 3,806 blocks offered, 207received bids. There were 272 bids with an average of 1.31 bids perblock and 67 companies participating.

Aquila Energy, UtiliCorp United’s main energy marketing arm,announced Wednesday it is moving from Omaha, NE, to Kansas City,MO.. The company will bring 405 employees to occupy 70,000 squarefeet on three floors of the Town Pavilion in downtown K.C.

Fresh after receiving a boost from a hefty storage withdrawalWednesday afternoon, natural gas futures continued higher yesterdayin yet another tumultuous trading session. And for the second dayin a row locals were seen as the catalyst, using buy stops toorchestrate a gap higher opening. But overhead resistance at $1.77held and the market was left to ebb and flow within the 4-centtrading range, which was set in the first hour of trading. TheApril contract finished up 3.9 cents to $1.762.

Taking its initial plunge into the Canadian Midstream market, Duke Energy announced Wednesday its subsidiary, Duke Energy Services Canada Ltd., acquired gas gathering and processing assets from Calgary-based Cometra Energy. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“I’ll be out of a job if they keep this up,” said a Westerntrader Wednesday, referring to the lack of volatility in yetanother in a long string of flat cash market performances. He didmanage to find sort of a silver lining: “I can’t make a good or abad deal in this market.”