Very mild softness was the dominant feature of the cash marketTuesday with a few points turning in basically flat showings.Others were off by up to a nickel. Prices started off near theirlow points but were able to rebound a few cents later in thetrading cycle, sources in the Gulf Coast and Rockies/Southwestsaid.

Temperatures were getting cold enough in parts of the North thatsome genuine heating load is developing. Northern Natural, whichhad one of the colder market areas in the Upper Plains, postedquotes around $2.50 at its demarc and Ventura points, surpassingmany Gulf Coast pipes. However, despite some talk of “storm hype”Monday, several sources said Tuesday they could detect littleconcern at that point about a tropical depression off the coast ofcentral Mexico threatening Gulf of Mexico production.

Sumas was the oddball point Tuesday, rising more than a nickelto the high $2.30s amid the overall market’s slight softness. OneCalgary trader thought that with PG&E’s low-linepack OFOlingering through at least today, “more people were coming up toSumas to buy gas that they intended to take to Malin.” However, aSouthwest marketer commented that with all the gas flowing intoPG&E’s system during the two OFO days, “I wouldn’t be surprisedif PG&E does an about-face [today] and switches to ahigh-linepack OFO” for Thursday.

Another western source felt that despite more moderate weatherin California this week, Golden State demand is staying strongenough to help support Midcontinent and Midwest prices. Most Wahagas is being pulled westward, he explained, which meansMidcontinent/Midwest buyers must pay a little extra for suppliesthat otherwise might have come from Waha.

A Gulf Coast marketer noted that Florida Gas-Zone 2 wascontinuing last month’s trend of trading several cents above Sonat,which he found hard to rationalize. Having much of Zone 1 shut infor all of October might have something to do with it, he said,”but there was enough advanced warning that it should have had noeffect.” However, he did concede that the pipeline’s recentlyfrequent low-linepack OFOs, one of which was continued Tuesday,also might help explain the FGT premium.

A tropical depression in the Bay of Campeche had gotten a number(11) but had not yet earned name status. However, at least oneforecaster saw a fairly strong possibility for a hurricane threatto the Texas/Louisiana coast by the weekend, saying if TD 11 headsnorthward it will be moving over very warm waters, which arefavorable for tropical storm development. But according to theNational Weather Service, the depression was drifting slowly to thenorthwest Tuesday and producing heavy rain over parts of Mexico.

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