In a move that baffled some traders, prices rebounded by large amounts across the board Tuesday from the previous day’s overall softness. Since weather-based demand remained relatively meager in most areas, Monday’s prompt-month futures spike of 33.7 cents was about the only solid support that could be found for the cash price strength Tuesday.

Once again prices moved nearly in lockstep across geographic market regions with gains ranging from about 30 cents to 55 cents or so.

The cash market will retain a slight amount of screen support Wednesday after October futures gave back most of their earlier advance late in the day to wind up 2.3 cents higher (see related story).

Very few locations outside the desert Southwest were due to get above the upper 80s Wednesday, and even some sections of the South were expected to peak in the upper 70s as cooling rains remained in the forecast for much of the region. A good chunk of the Northeast and Midwest was forecast to hit only around 70 or lower, although it was doubtful if any substantive heating load would result from such highs.

Neither the remnants of Hurricane Fred, about 1,100 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, nor a tropical wave a couple of hundred miles west of the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa were likely to develop into tropical storms, the National Hurricane Center said.

A Texas-based Gulf Coast trader said it was cooler than it used to be in the Lone Star State, but cash prices were still up, “so go figure.” The increases had to be a result of screen strength, she said, although she noted that winter-month futures spreads were getting tighter Tuesday. From January forward futures were softer, she said, so it’s rather dubious if Tuesday’s gains can be sustained.

Henry Hub traded at $3.15 for Thursday on ICE Tuesday afternoon, which was down about a nickel from Tuesday’s average, so that reinforced her suspicion that Wednesday’s market might be a bit softer.

Regarding the recent slowdown in the decline of gas-directed drilling rig activity, the trader said she thought it was largely due to a “gotta drill or else situation” for some producers who would otherwise forfeit leases if they didn’t keep a rig in operation on their acreage.

Stephen Smith of Stephen Smith Energy Associates said Tuesday he is now projecting a storage build of 65 Bcf for the week ending Sept. 11, which is down considerably from his previous estimate of 73 Bcf.

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