Canadian prices were strong Thursday, but it was a verydifferent market south of the border. Nearly all U.S. points werefalling between a nickel and a dime in what several sources agreedwas a “very quiet” trading day near the end of a quiet tradingweek. One marketer said he thinks everybody in the industry wantsto go play golf and say, “See you Sept. 1.”

Power generation load in Texas was notably lower after a seriesof thunderstorms had not only brought a bit of drought relief tothe parched state but also cooled things off. Quotes in the $1.70swere showing up on many Gulf Coast pipes. Relatively small drops inthe Rockies had prices there at flat or slightly positive basis tothose in the Midcontinent and Gulf Coast.

One trader’s first Southern California border packages were flatfrom Tuesday in the low $2.40s, but subseqent numbers fell steadilyto more than a dime lower. Maintenance at Guadalupe Station wascausing flow problems in El Paso’s Permian-Keystone pool, he said.

Alberta weather had cooled off a bit from Tuesday, a marketertold Daily GPI, but still-high ambient temperatures were putting astrain on field compressors and lowering production volumes. As aresult the intra-Alberta market, which usually experiences justabout the tightest trading ranges of any price point, saw someunusual volatility. One trader went all the way from the midC$1.80s to a high of C$2.04. Sumas exports were up almost a dimebased on the intra-Alberta strength and what a marketer perceivedas shortness of British Columbia supplies.

General Midcontinent basis has tightened to minus 9.5 forSeptember and October, likely due to the postponement of supplycompetition from Northern Border’s Chicago Project expansion, amarketer said. He pegged Chicago basis at plus 4.25-5 for Septemberonly and plus 3-5 for September/October.

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