West

Prices continued to soften Friday but except for some steepdrops in the West, the weekend declines were considerably smallerthan many traders had been expecting.

The Boards of Directors of the North Texas Oil and GasAssociation (NTOGA) and the West Central Texas Oil and GasAssociation (WeCTOGA) have approved a plan to merge the twoorganizations, which when completed, would become the largestmembership association of any state oil and gas group in thecountry. Both were organized in the early 1930s to representindependent oil and gas companies that primarily explore for andproduce crude oil and natural gas.

The Boards of Directors of the North Texas Oil and GasAssociation (NTOGA) and the West Central Texas Oil and GasAssociation (WeCTOGA) have approved a plan to merge the twoorganizations, which when completed, would become the largestmembership association of any state oil and gas group in thecountry. Both were organized in the early 1930s to representindependent oil and gas companies that primarily explore for andproduce crude oil and natural gas.

Prices slumped Friday as the usual weekend lull in gas demandkicked in, and little severe heat was expected outside the southerntier of states. Western markets tended to see more of the largerdecreases, while a few eastern points managed to hang in there atflat leveles.

There was no shortage of hand-wringing and news mediaannouncements in the West in the wake of recent electricity pricespikes and multi-million-dollar estimated consequences fromCalifornia’s relative modest round of rolling brownouts in andaround the San Francisco Bay Area. The big question — particularin California — is whether new solutions will come fromregulators, lawmakers or the market.

There was no shortage of hand-wringing and news mediaannouncements in the West in the wake of recent electricity pricespikes and multi-million-dollar estimated consequences fromCalifornia’s relatively modest round of rolling brownouts aroundthe San Francisco Bay Area. The big question — particular inCalifornia — is whether new solutions will come from regulators,lawmakers or the market.

After waiting more than two years, American Electric Power andCentral and South West Corp. completed their merger yesterdayfollowing approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC). AEP chairman E. Linn Draper Jr. said the company’spost-merger strategy consists of three key elements: wholesale,energy delivery and retail.

The cash market was very much a mixed bag Monday, with largerebounds in the West arrayed against small price movements up anddown (but more down than up) in the East. However, because thegreat majority of the screen’s dazzling display of strengthoccurred following the close of cash business, sources found reasonto expect a bullish market in physical gas today even without muchweather-related support.

Due to nominations exceeding capacity, Transwestern wasallocating deliveries Wednesday to SoCal Gas at Needles, CA. About196,000 MMBtu/d in the West of Thoreau segment was affected,Transwestern said.