Quotes for late December gas and the January bidweek tended tomove a few cents higher Wednesday. A Gulf Coast trader felt Januarycash had moved up about a nickel “in sympathy with the cold weathersweeping across most of the nation.”

A large aggregator said Chicago citygates for January weretopping off at $1.94-95 after having traded at $1.86-88 Tuesday. Heexpected prices to average around $1.90. Another trader agreed withthat bottom end for Chicago but said Wednesday deals got as high as$1.98 for him. Consumers Energy citygates in Michigan ran up alongwith Chicago to the mid $1.90s, according to a marketer, but hedidn’t know why Michigan Consolidated deliveries failed to surpassthe low $1.90s.

Basis relationships continue to evolve, and although it may notbe a permanent change, Malin quotes for January are running almosta dime above the Southern California border. One trader blamed theprice strength at Malin mostly on the explosion of Sumas prices to$20-plus around mid-December and the continued relative strength atSumas in bidweek. That is affecting Stanfield and in turndeliveries at Malin, she said. “Perhaps people who were short Sumasbought Malin as a ‘dirty hedge,’ but basically Malin got dragged upby Sumas.” The Southern California border was effectively insulatedfrom “all that craziness,” she added.

Most sources reporting Jan. 1-4 deals being done Wednesday wereseeing swing prices at approximate bidweek levels, but one quotedthe Southern California border at $1.95 for the weekend, at least anickel less than his low $2.00s bidweek numbers.

Even with the cold boosting bidweek numbers, a Texas marketerstill considered January “a dull market.” It needs severalblizzards in a row up North to get out of the doldrums, he said. Hethought a lot of January business was getting wrapped up Wednesday”so people can get gone for the holidays” earlier.

Prices for the final day of December were mostly flat to about anickel higher in predictably light activity. Incremental tradingwas dead, with people “just going through the motions,” a Houstonsource said. California was about the only consistently softermarket and declines there were less than a nickel. Related pointsSumas and Stanfield continued to fall several more cents from theirrecently lofty heights. A marketer reported hearing Chicagocitygates as high as $2 into the NIPSCO system, “where supply ispretty tight.”

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