Yesterday

Natural gas prices continued in their march of monotonyyesterday, as neither buyers nor sellers were able to tip the scalein their favor. Flatness ruled as a result, with many pricinglocations unchanged.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) released findingsyesterday that North American gas production capacity will weakenthis year – possibly by as much as 500 MMcf/d – due to cutbacks indrilling and exploration brought about by low oil prices.

American Gas Association President David Parker yesterdaydismissed industry speculation that the gas LDC group is exploringthe prospect of combining with its electric counterpart, the EdisonElectric Institute.

Natural gas futures closed higher after a weak start yesterdayas traders were able to look past the dismal fundamental outlook tofocus on the short-covering activity at hand. That lifted the Marchcontract a modest 3.4 cents to finish at $1.86 on its first day asthe prompt month.

The only thing John Olson, energy analyst for Sanders Morris andMundy, needed yesterday following his speech at a producers’conference on gas supply and demand at the Canadian embassy inWashington, D.C., was a producer to volunteer to step up on stageand be slapped around.

FERC yesterday denied Midcoast Interstate Transmission Inc.’srequest for a limited stay of the orders giving Southern NaturalGas (Sonat) the go-ahead to build an extension of its mainline intonorthern Alabama.

Chevron and Arco both said yesterday they will be chopping $500million from their costs for 1999. “To successfully weather thebusiness conditions of low crude oil, natural gas and commoditychemicals prices, we have to continue to find ways to minimize thecost of operating our business,” said Ken Derr, Chevron’s CEO.

Atlanta Gas Light Co. (AGL) responded harshly yesterday to a report filed Tuesday by members of the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) adversary staff, heating up an already steamy debate over AGL’s rates.

Light short-covering gently prodded the futures market higheryesterday as traders surveyed the prospect of a sizable storagewithdrawal reported in the American Gas Association’s storagereport this afternoon. The prompt February contract led all others,advancing 4.2 cents to settle at $1.821. With that small gain, themarket ended a five-day, 25-cent slide.