Most of the cash market leveled off Wednesday, with few pointsstraying more than a penny or two to either side of flatness. TheRockies, where weather is currently chilliest, recorded most of thegains of 3 or more cents. Although the screen eventually achieved again of more than 3 cents, cash had only moderate softness infutures as a morning influence.

The standout in Daily GPI’s price change column was CIG, whereDenver-Julesburg Basin quotes soared by twenty cents and non-DJprices rose almost a dime. This was primarily due to Public ServiceCo. of Colorado declaring an OFO-like Restricted Delivery Day fortoday through Sunday, a marketer said. The restriction was issueddue to PSCo’s storage situation and low linepack, he said, andcarried penalties of $25/dth plus the gas commodity cost. “Usuallyyou’ll see DJ prices soar when that happens,” he added.

Cash prices remained relatively strong even with not much changefrom Tuesday, a Midcontinent/Midwest marketer said. He sees littlein fundamentals to influence the market right now, but agreed withother sources that many points were trending a few cents higher asthe trading session went on.

A Rockies producer had no trouble explaining the relativefirmness at western points. “Despite all the tools available foraccurately analyzing the gas market, sometimes the most simplerule-cold weather makes gas more expensive-says it all,” he said.With a cold front moving into the region, expected hightemperatures at many Rockies locations will be only in the mid 30stoday, the producer added. That’s why CIG and Questar were easilythe day’s biggest gainers, he said.

A marketer said there’s still “a little bit” of heating load inthe Pacific Northwest, causing his Sumas purchases to rise from alow of $1.82 to a high of $1.88.

The Gulf Coast’s largest increases of 2-3 cents were at closelylinked Houston Ship Channel and Katy. A storage play is happeningthere, one trader said. Although Wednesday’s volume was down fromTuesday’s, he was still withdrawing from storage to sell at theShip Channel.

A price squeeze occurred at Northern Natural’s demarcationpoint, a marketer reported. Gas that usually moves north from Wahato demarc stayed on the south end of the system, he said, causingsome demarc buyers to pay up late.

Bullish sentiment is helping Chicago basis for May to widen fromlast week’s levels, one source said. Paper is now trading at plus4.25, he said, while physical is plus 4.5.

A Midcontinent trader pegged May-October basis at minus 9 forONG and at minus 10-10.5 for ANR-Southwest and Panhandle Eastern.

©Copyright 1999 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.