First-of-month swing prices were down from the weekend buthandily above February indexes Monday. As further proof that theaftermarket was getting off to a strong beginning, a marketerreported seeing Henry Hub swing swaps trading at $2.67 while thescreen was at $2.61. “That premium of 6 cents was very strong,” hesaid.

Cash prices used a rising March futures contract and continuingcold weather as support for their firmness. As one winter stormheaded out into the Atlantic Ocean from New England, another onewas sweeping eastward from the Pacific Ocean and was expected toreach the Midcontinent/Texas region sometime today.

There was a noticeable pickup in electric generation load fromCalifornia, a marketer said, as he and another trader reportedPG&E taking its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant down to 13% powerdue to heavy storm-churned seas causing problems with the plant’scooling water intakes. Some supply tightness developed in theSouthwest basins as buyers tended to outnumber sellers, themarketer added. That caused San Juan-Blanco numbers to rise about adime over the course of the morning, he said.

One Chicago-area utility waited to make its purchases inanticipation of lower prices that never showed up, a buyer said. Itwas forced to jump into the market late and ended up driving priceshigher, she said.The buyer’s spot gas volumes were lower than usualnot because of decreased load but because of increased storageburns.

Despite its initial signs of strength, the aftermarket stilllooked bearish to a Midcontinent source. Weather in the region wasstarting to moderate and the forecast calls for the warming trendto spread eastward, he said, which will put a damper on easternprices for at least a while.

Last-day bidweek prices were up a little from last week mainlybecause of the screen’s run-up, a western trader said.

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