Winter

The United States didn’t see much of a winter, but you can holdonto your hats this summer because the hurricane season may blowyou away.

Salomon Smith Barney (SSB) predicts there will be 405 Bcf moregas in storage at the end of the winter heating season on April 1than the average level of stored gas at the same point over thepast four years. The investment firm raised its forecast forseason-ending storage levels by 72 Bcf last week to 1,306 toreflect lower-than-expected withdrawals for the week ending Feb. 5and 20% warmer than normal weather expected for the week endingFeb. 13. The forecast would put storage levels on April 1 about 247Bcf higher than levels at the same point last year. According tothe American Gas Association (AGA), storage levels currently are428 Bcf higher than they were at the same point last year.

Providence (RI) Energy Corp. blamed a warm winter and a sharpdrop in oil prices for diminished earnings for the year ended Sept.30. Net income declined to $6.4 million, or $1.09 per share, from$7.8 million, or $1.35 per share, in fiscal 1997. However,operating revenue from the company’s non-regulated business grewmore than five-fold to $33 million.

The severe winter cold snap last week triggered unprecedentedprice spikes at spot points in the Pacific Northwest and NorthernCalifornia. PG&ampE Citygate prices hit $6.18/MMBtu on Monday andwere near $5 on Tuesday. Prices jumped to $11.05/MMBtu at Sumas onthe previous Friday for weekend flow, and on Monday and Tuesdaystayed north of $6.

For the third day in a row Wednesday, natural gas futures werelower as traders continued to discount the arctic cold front andfocus on the larger fundamental picture. Even as a wintry mix ofprecipitation spread from Texas to Washington, D.C. yesterday,sources continued to point to the large storage overhang andforecasts calling for warming temperatures by early next week. Theprompt January contract finished 1.9 cents lower at $1.906.

TransCanada PipeLines has filed an application with the NationalEnergy Board (NEB) to build a 61-mile, 36-inch diameter pipelineacross Lake Erie. The line would provide the upstream supplyconnection for the proposed Millennium Pipeline project, whichwould extend to New York City.

In a huge turnaround of the cash market spurred by the arrivalof weather that finally appeared more wintry than springlike,prices were skyrocketing Monday from the abyss into which they hadsunk prior to the weekend. To say that double-digit increasescharacterized trading was a gross understatement when many pointswere rising by 50-60 cents or more.

A return to normal temperatures in the first quarter andthroughout next year is likely to lead to a 2.4% increase in gasdemand in 1999, the Independent Petroleum Association of America(IPAA) said in its November Short-Run Forecast. IPAA sees demandreaching 22.3 Tcf, a peak that surpasses the previous high of 22.1set in 1972 and a significant turnaround from the 1.1% decrease to21.7 Tcf of gas demand expected this year.

Despite an El Nino winter and lower gas liquids prices, NGCCorp. enjoyed a first quarter substantially better than one yearago. CEO Chuck Watson attributed the improvement to better gas andliquids marketing operations in the U.S. and the U.K.