Widespread

Existing shippers on Transcontinental Gas Pipeline haveexpressed widespread opposition to the pipeline’s request to rollin the costs associated with its SouthCoast expansion project inGeorgia and Alabama.

The cash market has plenty of fundamentals to deal with goinginto the Christmas weekend. But despite widespread freezing weatherand a profusion of actual and/or potential pipeline OFOs (question:does a Strained Operating Condition mean CIG has a hernia?), priceswere unusually bearish Wednesday in light of what many wouldconsider bullish conditions. Most declines were in the neighborhoodof a dime, although some Western points that had been flying highearlier in the week were measuring their losses in terms ofdollars.

Late-November price softness showed little sign of abating inpost-weekend activity Monday, and except for residents of theNorthwest and Upper Plains enduring somewhat nasty weather, thereason was apparent to anybody who went outdoors. Temperaturesapproaching the Thanksgiving holiday are unseasonably mild for thegreat majority of the U.S., and the lack of load combined with theearly stages of storage withdrawal season were depressing both cashand futures numbers. Quotes were mostly flat for the SouthernCalifornia border and TCO; otherwise price declines tended to rangefrom about a nickel to more than a dime.

Cash prices emerged from the weekend with widespread gainsMonday. Most were of the small-to-medium variety at 2-6 cents, buta scorching West tended to see a lot of double-digit increases. SanJuan Basin and the Southern California moved in near-lockstep,rising about a quarter each. However, a basis relationship gap ofnearly 50 cents between the two points remaineduncharacteristically wide compared to traditional levels,reflecting the inroads made by Canadian and Rockies supplies intothe California market in recent years.

More than 70% of gas consumed could be bought from suppliersother than local distribution companies under current and proposedLDC transportation programs, according to the American GasAssociation (AGA). But the choice option still is heavily weightedtoward large customers.

Non-regulated utility marketing affiliates may become a thing ofthe past, not as a result of forced divestiture but of voluntaryseparation, according to Hagler Bailly Consulting’s Ken Malloy.