NEI's Energy Markets Report - September 3 - 7, 2007

Here's a summary of what went on in the energy markets last week:

Electricity peak prices all decreased across the country last week except for ERCOT. In the West, the Palo Verde and SP 15 hubs decreased by more than $28/MWh after the summer heat wave receded. Price declines of less than $2/MWh occurred at the Eastern hubs (see pages 1 and 3).

Gas prices at the Henry Hub rose $0.03 to $5.60/MMBtu (see pages 1 and 3). Due to low natural gas prices, Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced it will cut 6 percent of its gas production in September. Gas futures at the Henry Hub for October 2007 were $5.65/MMBtu. For September 2008, Henry Hub futures were $7.68/MMBtu (see page 2).

TradeTech’s and UxC’s uranium spot prices remained unchanged for the week. Average uranium prices for the current week, last four weeks and the past year are about $90/lb U3O8 (see pages 1 and 3).

The estimated U.S. nuclear plant availability factor averaged 97% for the week. Quad Cities 1 was down for maintenance on a main steam line drain valve and a high pressure coolant injection isolation valve. Browns Ferry 1 scrammed due to an electro-hydraulic control (EHC) system leak. Turkey Point 3 began the first refueling outage for the Fall 2007 outage season (see pages 2 and 4).

Due to hot summer temperatures in August, EIA’s Short Term Energy Outlook projected 2007 total electricity consumption will increase by 2.5 percent over 2006 levels (last month’s STEO projected a 1.9 percent increase for 2007). For the year, the Henry Hub spot price is expected to average about $7.31 per mcf in 2007 and $8.07 per mcf in 2008. Oil market fundamentals will likely remain tight reflecting continued production restraint by members of OPEC, rising consumption, moderate growth in non-OPEC supply, and falling inventories (see pages 2 and 5).

For the report click here. It is also located on NEI's Financial Center webpage.