This week’s general price downturn almost came to a haltWednesday, but mild softness remained the norm for most points.Quotes tended to range from flat to down about a nickel. Marketareas were getting colder but not by much, sources said, and thatwas outweighed by further softness in futures. With little toinfluence it, trading activity remains on the quiet side, theysaid.

Canadian price strength continued with both intra-Alberta andWestcoast Station 2 reported in the C$2.70s and low C$2.80s andSumas in the low to mid US$2.00s, although Sumas fell as low as$1.95 in a late deal. Alberta field receipts are running low due tohigh weather-related demand, and Nova tightened its imbalancetolerance band to +20/0%, a marketer said.

Another marketer said the AGA storage report of 45 Bcf inwithdrawals was being perceived as fairly neutral, but his “gutfeeling” was that the number was somewhat bearish relative to ayear ago. “Last November was pretty cold and we had pretty gooddraws early in the month, and that kind of set up the whole winter.Right now weather is very mild and storage is extremely full, and Ithink we’re looking at lower [price] numbers for a while.”

A Northeast trader agreed, saying winter basis is gettingcrushed. This is the earliest in the season he’s seen basis soweak; current levels usually don’t appear until around February, hesaid. “Everybody seems to be giving up on winter even before it’sbegun officially.”

Chicago citygate basis for December has weakened to about plus14 from the low 20s earlier, a marketer said. Another source washearing December fixed prices in the low $2.20s at Malin, the mid$2.30s at the southern California border and the high $2.10s in theRockies.

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