Wednesday’s swing market was almost a mirror image of the previous day. This time single-digit declines dominated the price table instead of the increases by largely similar amounts recorded on Tuesday. One trader said the mild softness on Wednesday is what he actually had expected for both days.

Other than September futures beginning their prompt-month reign with a 3-cent gain after the August contract wimped out with an expiration-day loss of less than a penny, market influences were much the same as before, sources said. Searing heat in most of the West outside coastal California was nearly matched by high temperatures in the Gulf Coast states and Georgia, but the rest of the South joined the Midwest and Northeast in relatively mild weather for midsummer.

The Pacific Northwest is expected to get a modicum of relief from the heat starting Thursday, but highs will still be approaching 100 degrees in some areas.

The overall tropical storm front remained quiet. However, The Weather Channel said a disturbance in the eastern Atlantic about 500 miles south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands could develop into a tropical depression during the next day or two. It was moving westward at about 20 mph, TWC said.

Barring a radically low storage injection volume in Thursday morning’s report from the Energy Information Administration, the consensus seems to be that the first few days of the August aftermarket will see continuing modest price declines.

A utility buyer in the Midwest reported that bidweek prices fell a little Wednesday “but not by much.” The region still had demand-depressing mild weather and there is little near-term change in sight, she added.

A marketer reported doing MichCon and Consumers Power citygate deals at identical basis of plus 21 cents.

A Florida utility staffer reported buying Florida Gas Transmission basis packages at minus 4.5-4 cents in Zone 1 (South Texas) but said the basis swung almost a dime to plus 5 cents in Zone 3 (southeast Louisiana) because of the greater market-area proximity.

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