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Benefiting from the hot summer and increased air conditioningloads in the Southwest, Reliant Energy announced it anticipates itsthird quarter earnings to be “substantially higher” than during thesame period last year. The company expects to exceed FirstCall/Thomson Financial’s projections of $1.07 per share by 25 to30%. Reliant’s adjusted earnings for the third quarter of 1999 were$283 million, or 99 cents a share.

OGE Energy Corp. subsidiary Enogex Inc., announced plans toexpand its Harrah Gas Processing Plant in eastern Oklahoma County,doubling the plant’s capacity to 38 MMcf/d. The expansion at Harrahis expected to be complete and in service by January 2001.

Despite the conventional wisdom that there has been a decouplingof natural gas and crude oil prices, ICF Consulting says it isprimarily the close tie between the two commodities under thecurrent circumstances that has been responsible for high naturalgas prices this year.

El Paso Merchant Energy and PSE&G announced therestructuring of a long-term power sales agreement between theutility and the Newark Bay generating project. The New Jersey Boardof Public Utilities (BPU) has approved the agreement. The NewarkBay project is a 135 Mw gas-fired cogeneration facility managed byEl Paso and located in Newark. PSE&G is required by law to buythe plants power and has been under a long-term agreement at pricesthat are now often above market. Under the new agreement, El Pasowill supply a fixed amount of electricity to PSE&G at reducedrates. PSE&G expects that the new agreement will save itscustomers $75 million over the remaining 13-year term of theagreement. El Paso Merchant Energy will be able to minimize thecosts associated with servicing the agreement, and obtain greaterflexibility in supplying energy to PSE&G under the contract, bypotentially delivering power from alternative sources.

Due to scheduled maintenance, one compressor unit will beunavailable at Koch Gateway’s Koran (LA) Station for 30 daysstarting Oct. 2, reducing station capacity by 22 MMcf/d. Worklasting about 30 days began Tuesday on a unit at the Montpelier(LA) Station, cutting capacity on the 30-inch Kosciusko Line fromMontpelier by 50 MMcf/d.

The swing market maintained an upward track Wednesday, butmomentum slowed with increases of a dime or less at most points.Sources reported little change from Tuesday in October numbers asemphasis began shifting more toward bidweek.

Like a politician in an election year, the natural gas futuremarket had something for everyone yesterday as prices spiraledhigher early in the session on storm hype and short covering onlyto crumble at the end on slightly bearish storage numbers.

FERC had a very busy day yesterday on the natural gas side.First, it upheld its July order in which it awarded a certificateto the Midwest-to-East Coast Independence Pipeline, fending offcontinuing questions about the binding nature of the project’sprecedent agreements and its market need. Federal regulators alsogave the go-ahead for Phase II of ANR Pipeline’s Wisconsinexpansion, a Reliant Energy Gas Transmission expansion in Arkansas,and awarded a preliminary determination to Transcontinental GasPipe Line for its proposed Sundance expansion in the Southeast.

It wasn’t the first trade conducted on EnronOnline when itdebuted last November that CEO Louise Kitchen was excited about.Rather, it was a trade by someone who liked to handle histransactions in a casual way, what she called a “golf course”trader.” When he completed a petroleum transaction on EnronOnline’ssystem last year, Kitchen said she knew Enron’s new launch would besuccessful.