Working

CMS Energy Corp., which hinted earlier this month that it was working to sell Panhandle Eastern Pipeline, apparently has received at least three bids and interest by a few others to buy the natural gas interstate system, valued at more than $1.5 billion (see Daily GPI, Nov. 15). Suitors with offers on the table are said to be TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Sempra Energy and American International Group (AIG).

Working off oversold conditions, natural gas futures turned higher Tuesday, as locals tried to pick a bottom, and trade and commercial sellers were slow to emerge. The end result was a 9.4 cent gain to $3.872 for the December contract, just a few ticks below its high for the session. Estimated volume was 65,897.

Liquidity at the citygates has become a problem for industrial buyers with the disappearance of large trading companies, and the middleman buyer for Ford Motor, General Electric and DaimlerChyrsler, among others, is going back to the field for his supplies.

Liquidity at the citygates has become a problem for industrial buyers with the disappearance of large trading companies, and the middleman buyer for Ford Motor, General Electric and DaimlerChyrsler, among others, is going back to the field for his supplies.

It will probably take four to five years of working through the current crisis environment in the energy markets, setting up regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and installing a standard electricity market design before FERC can ratchet down the current levels of regulatory oversight over the industry, FERC Commissioner Linda Breathitt said last Thursday.

At the end of February, working gas levels in storage were more than double that of the previous year and over 40% higher than the end-of-February average for the previous five years, the Energy Information Administration said in its latest Short Term Energy Outlook. As a result, EIA expects prices to fall sharply this spring and summer before a recovery at the end of the year.

Continuing in its effort to find a way to develop stranded natural gas economically, Conoco has taken a major step toward commercializing its proprietary technology for converting natural gas to liquids with the delivery and installation of the first production modules at the company’s gas-to-liquids (GTL) demonstration plant under construction in Ponca City, OK.

Having already put an additional $550 million behind its energy marketing business, Mirant is now working on a deal with investment bankers to further bolster its reserves.

At the end of February, working gas levels in storage were more than double that of the previous year and over 40% higher than the end-of-February average for the previous five years, the Energy Information Administration said in its Short Term Energy Outlook. As a result, EIA expects prices to fall sharply this spring and summer before a recovery at the end of the year.