In spite of cooling trends in the South, Rockies and parts of the Midwest, prices fell at most points Tuesday. The modest addition of heating load and the previous day’s 6.7-cent increase by April futures were largely ineffective in countering overall bearish weather fundamentals.

Losses that ranged from 2-3 cents to a little more than 20 cents were largest at Northeast citygates, where warmer temperatures were in the Wednesday forecast. Most of the points that were flat to about 15 cents higher were in the Midcontinent, Louisiana and West Texas.

The cash market will continue to have prior-day screen support after the April futures contract rose another 5.3 cents before beginning its three-day countdown to Friday’s expiration (see related story).

CIG said recent blizzard conditions in the northern Wyoming area have resulted in receipt shortfalls for it and WIC (see Transportation Notes). And PG&E issued a customer-specific low-inventory OFO after projecting linepack levels below its minimum targets.

There were still a few freezing lows in the Northeast forecast for Wednesday, but the region is warming prior to a rainy period that will allow afternoon temperatures to climb into the middle 40s to middle 50s, according to The Weather Channel. The Midwest, which has provided the bulk of cold U.S. weather in recent weeks, is due to see temperatures fall Wednesday, but lows on either side of 40 in most parts of the region will seem mild compared to what came before.

The South also is cooling, but the gain in heating load will be virtually imperceptible as lows are expected to be limited to around 50 or higher. Lows in the teens or single digits in the northern Rockies and Alberta constitute the coldest weather in the current outlook.

A Gulf Coast marketer reported a noticeable increase in the number of her usual trading counterparties that were available this week because of the end of spring break vacations. Despite Tuesday’s price softness, spot gas demand remained fairly solid, she said.

Demand is also brisk for April baseload, the marketer said, noting that she was getting “a lot of April business” done Tuesday. She attributed the ready orders for April gas to outer-month futures contracts reflecting steady increases, so April is looking like the cheapest month to buy storage injection gas. She said that probably means the market is delaying the widely anticipated big price collapse of 2009 until mid-summer.

The marketer said she was selling almost all of company’s gas in Louisiana at index minus 0.5-1 cents. An exception was ANR Southeast, she said, which traded at index plus 0.25 cent, which may be related to a hydrocarbon dew point limit that ANR will impose on its Southeast Mainline for April.

The National Weather Service predicts below-normal temperatures everywhere in roughly the northern third of the U.S. during the March 30-April 3 workweek. The only area in which the agency expected above-normal readings in its six- to 10-day forecast posted Tuesday afternoon was in all of Arizona, southwestern Utah, the southern half of Nevada and the southern three-fourths of California.

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