Daily GPI

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI ) said yesterday ithas created a new program that focuses on Internet security issuesas they impact the energy industry in response to a series ofrecent hacker incidents, which brought e-business to a halt onseveral high profile websites. There is a growing concern thatsimilar intrusions could interrupt the critical interdependentsystems that support the global energy infrastructure. “Ourimmediate focus is on the vulnerabilities of the electronic systemsthat monitor and operate our business systems and provide criticalcommunications within and outside the energy business,” saidCharlie Siebenthal, manager of EPRI’s Enterprise InfrastructureSecurity (EIS) program. “In the long term, the EIS program willshift its emphasis to the design and management of electronicsecurity activities that will augment a company’s existing physicalsecurity programs.” The program will consist of a series ofworkshops covering broad program issues, in-depth electronicsecurity technical issues, and legal issues. Participation is opento any company actively engaged in the production, transportation,distribution, or sale of energy. The first EIS workshop will beheld April 26-28, 2000 in Orlando, FL. Details are posted on theprogram website, http://eis.epri.com/. For additional informationon the EIS program please contact Susan Marsland (650/855-2946) orat smarslan@epri.com.

Florida Gas Transmission rescheduled maintenance betweenStations 12 and 13 in northern Florida for April 1-2. The project,which will limit market area deliveries to about 1.15-1.25 Bcf/d,will replace 120 feet of 36-inch pipe under Highway 331. Itoriginally had been planned for last Christmas Day but waspostponed due to colder weather in the market area (see Daily GPI,Dec. 23, 1999).

Nearly all points continued to slide a few more cents Thursday,but afternoon rallies by three key April futures contracts (naturalgas, crude oil and heating oil) had many traders believing thatwould spark a rebound in the gas market today.

Fueled by a steady flow of short covering, natural gas futureserupted higher late yesterday morning as traders looked pastbearish storage data and focused on constructive short-term weatherand technicals. After testing support in the $2.65-67 area around10 a.m. (CST), the April contract rallied throughout the rest ofthe session to finish up 7.6 cents at $2.786.

CMS Energy Corp., Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC, and TEPPCOPartners LP. are forming a limited liability company to own andoperate part of Trunkline’s mainline that is being converted totransport refined products from the Gulf Coast region to Illinois.Each of the companies will own a one-third interest in the venture.CMS already is seeking FERC approval to convert the 720-mileportion of its pipeline from gas to refined products service.Conversion of the pipeline to liquids service is expected by theend of 2001.

This week’s moderate bull market came to an end for the mostpart Wednesday as cash prices bowed under the weight of decliningfutures to range from flat to down a little more than a nickel.

Natural gas futures finished on a sour note Wednesday as tradersalleviated overbought conditions and took profits both before andafter the release of fresh storage data. After opening lower, theApril contract worked its way down throughout much of the sessionbefore tumbling at the closing bell to finish at $2.71. The promptmonth’s 8.9-cent decline was trumped only by the May contract,which dropped 9 cents to finish as $2.747. Estimated volume wasmodest with only 63,810 contracts changing hands.

In a move rumored for the past few months, Occidental Petroleum(Oxy) took Altura Energy off the hands of Shell Exploration &Production Co. and BP Amoco yesterday. The $3.6 billion transactionis expected to close within the next few weeks, the companies said.

U.S. dependence on Canadian gas has quadrupled since the 1970sand is expected to grow even further over the next decade, butthere’s no danger the country will be to the domestic gas marketwhat the Middle East has come to mean to the U.S. crude oil market,a Canadian pipeline executive said.