September prices were a little lower following the weekend, butsome sources saw something of a yo-yo effect with quotes regaininga penny or two in the afternoon as the October screen managed toachieve a small advance. A buyer at the Chicago citygate said hisdeals averaged just over $2.90 on Friday and just under $2.90 onMonday.

A marketer reported being able to buy Chicago deliveries at plus3 basis near the September futures settlement Friday “when peoplesaw cash wasn’t going to keep up with the screen.” That was downfrom citygate basis of plus 5-6 being quoted around midweek.

A Northeast-oriented buyer thought it “nice” for traders of hisilk when he was able to get identical ranges of $3.12-14 for bothTexas Eastern M-3 and Transco Zone 6-NYC. The Zone 6 gas usuallyfetches a small premium, he said, “but there isn’t any demand upthere.”

Despite all the talk leading up to bidweek of index-plustrading, a Texas buyer said he found it fairly easy to get someindex-minus deals done early in the bidweek cycle. At first thesellers wanted small premiums to index, he said, but were mollifiedwhen he pointed out how high gas prices are for what ishistorically the weakest demand month of the year. “Be happy withwhat you’ve got, I told producers,” the buyer said.

A couple of traders saw hints of a slightly stronger earlyaftermarket developing. One based his bullishness on theexpectations of new hurricanes, “and despite what some people say,I think there are a lot of folks behind in their storage injectionschedules.”

Swing prices for the last day of the month were a bit softer,with most points ranging from flat to down about a nickel. Activityand volumes were smaller than usual as many sources either wereliquidating or had already gotten out of their August swingpositions. The small declines were fairly mixed among regions, butNorthern California quotes tended to be down about a nickel whileNortheast citygates and the Appalachian pipes were flat to slightlyhigher. Saying California weather was cooling off from last week, amarketer thought end-of-month balancing was the reason for flatSouthern California border numbers holding more firmly than Malinand the PG&E citygate.

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