Daily GPI

Prices for the last day of February were generally on theupswing Monday, ranging from flat in California to more than a dimehigher at a few Northeast points.

The somewhat surprising recent firmness of swing prices held uponce again in most cases Friday, refusing to yield to either thenormal drop in weekend demand or a continuing dearth of fundamentalweather support.

Feeding off late gains achieved Thursday, natural gas futuresrumbled higher Friday as traders continued to look past theoverwhelmingly bearish short- and medium-term weather outlook tofocus instead on the potential for higher prices this summer. Withthat upward bias, the March contract advanced 5.4 cents to settleat $2.603, just a fraction of a cent below the $2.61 Februarysettle, but nearly a dollar above the $1.666 March 1999 closingprice.

As Piedmont Natural Gas Co. reported record net income Friday atits annual shareholders meeting in Charlotte, NC, Chairman and CEOJohn H. Maxheim announced his retirement from active operation ofthe company after 22 years. Maxheim said the company’s board hasnamed former Piedmont Natural Gas President and COO Ware F.Schiefer to succeed him as president and CEO.

A Williams pipeline unit said last week that it has receivednonbinding interest for about 190 MMcf/d on its proposedinternational gas pipeline link from the Pacific Northwest tocogeneration plants on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Thestrong results prompted Williams and its partner, BC Hydro, to goback to the drawing board on the proposed size, route and generalscope of the project, which was originally estimated at about $120million and 100 MMcf/d.

An official with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line told a Senatecommittee last week that pipeline deliverability to the Northeastregion was extremely “taxed” this winter, resulting in highdelivered gas prices to the New York market during January andFebruary. This, he said, underscores the need for more pipelinecapacity to the region.

The Houston Exploration Co, and KeySpan Energy concluded theirreview of strategic alternatives for Houston Exploration and saidKeySpan will retain its 64% equity position in Houston Explorationfor the foreseeable future.

Shares of BP Amoco and Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) rose lastFriday following press reports that the companies agreed to selloff all of ARCO’s Alaskan assets to avoid going to court with theFederal Trade Commission (FTC) over their proposed merger.

The natural gas industry’s reaction to the retail electricitylegislation introduced last week by Senate Energy CommitteeChairman Frank Murkowski (R-AK) was sort of ho-hum.