Most locations saw small price increases Thursday based on a gain of nearly a dime by futures a day earlier and forecasts of high, though slightly receding, temperatures in much of the U.S.

Most of the market was flat to nearly a dime higher. A few losses of up to about a nickel were concentrated in the Rockies.

Although it remained the highest-priced point by far, the Florida citygate’s fall of a bit more than $2.50 (despite a Florida Gas Transmission Overage Alert Day entering a second month) was again far outside the overall market trend.

Peak temperatures would remain hot, but less so than previously, in most of the southern U.S. Friday. They were due to continue to be limited to the 80s or lower in most other areas.

The Energy Information Administration’s report of a 29 Bcf storage injection for the week ending July 30 was a bit under consensus estimates in the low 30s Bcf, but Nymex traders still reacted negatively in sending September futures 13.9 cents lower (see related story).

What used to be Tropical Storm Colin had become a “low-pressure area” and was about 475 miles south of Bermuda Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. It had a 70% chance of restrengthening into a tropical storm in the next couple of days, according to NHC, but still appeared to be a nonevent for the gas market because of a projected track northward off the East Coast. Meanwhile, NHC accorded a tropical wave moving westward in the southwestern Caribbean Sea off the lower Central America coast only 10% odds of further development.

Henry Hub volumes traded on its online platform dipped tremendously from 1,023,300 MMBtu Wednesday to 753,400 MMBtu Thursday, according to IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), but prices there were up nearly 7 cents. ICE also reported price gains of about a nickel or more at the Chicago citygate, CenterPoint-South and Consumers Energy.

“Who is gouging who in Florida citygates?” commented a Texas marketer about delivered Florida Gas Transmission prices still being well above $10 as the pipeline’s Overage Alert day ended a month of continuous implementation. He speculated that many Florida customers were buying interruptible gas at inflated prices, but said such delivery restrictions shouldn’t be necessary despite high temperatures in the Sunshine State.

The marketer said he was not very surprised by the storage report, despite August injections usually being 7.4 Bcf/d on average and the latest one equating to 4.1 Bcf/d. After all, heat levels were higher than normal during June and July, he said.

ICE also said PG&E citygate volumes on its system dipped from 829,100 MMBtu Wednesday to 787,300 MMBtu Thursday as prices there fell about a nickel. PG&E extended a high-inventory OFO through at least Friday.

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