Most of the market “seemed to take a breather” Friday, as oneproducer perceived it, going quietly into the weekend flat tomildly higher. The points experiencing significant declines ofabout a nickel or greater were scattered They included San JuanBasin, Stanfield and Iroquois Zone 2 and were topped by a drop of alittle more than a dime at Malin.

Prices had little in the way of new influences. A small futuresrise probably helped many points counteract the usual softness oflower weekend demand, a marketer said. Electric utility load stayedfairly strong from Texas through the Southeast, according to aHouston-based producer. However, the Midwest and Northeast marketareas seemingly remained impervious to any serious heat. “I supposeit’s got to warm up around here eventually,” remarked the fuelbuyer for a Northeast utility, “but for now our forecasts indicatetemperatures will be comfortable for at least the rest of August.”

California finally got a break from hot weather. After fourstraight days of Stage Two Electrical Emergencies, the state’sIndependent System Operator found it unnecessary Friday to issueeven a Power Watch, the mildest of its alert modes. That’s probablywhy Malin and San Juan Basin were among the few softer markets,even though the PG&E citygate and Southern California borderwere flat, a trader said.

Traders potentially could return to the office this morning toencounter a storm situation in the Gulf of Mexico. TropicalDepression 6 was upgraded to Tropical Storm Chris Friday morningbut was poorly organized and barely retaining tropical storm statuslate that afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.Chris was about 325 miles east of Antigua in the Leeward Islands(the northern segment of the chain between Puerto Rico andVenezuela). If it maintained its west-northwest heading, Chriswould move into the area between Cuba and southern Florida.

However, a producer gave little credence to the possibility ofChris as a production threat. He recalled reading “somewhere” thatin the recorded history of hurricanes, only one storm thatoriginated in the vicinity of where Chris did had made it into theGulf.

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