Cash prices continued going up at most points Wednesday, oftenrepeating Tuesday’s gains of between 3 and 9 cents. Butshell-shocked traders were more interested in discussing what onecalled the “precipitous” drop in May futures and its implicationsfor both April and May cash numbers. “I’d bet a lot of people gotcaught with their pants down” by the screen’s plunge, a marketersaid. Several sources said the Nymex drop caused daily cash dealsdone late to fall.

Most sources are set for a big futures-influenced downturn incash markets today.

PG&E citygates posted Wednesday’s biggest gains of more thana dime into the mid to high $2.80s, with a marketer hearing of latequotes in the $2.90s. One source attributed the run-up to the factthat West Coast electric prices for June “are really rocking,”meaning soaring higher. A lot of people are short and scrambling toget back in balance, anticipating that the electric prices meansummer gas numbers will get even higher, he said. Also, PG&Elinepack is low, though not to the point of requiring an OFO, headded.

Another reason for higher California prices is a reportindicating Pacific Northwest hydropower remains weak as fishmigrations continue, a producer said.

Despite the strength of California numbers, Rockies prices wereoff slightly due to warming weather there and in the Northwest. Andintra-Alberta prices wasted no time at all in tumbling along withthe screen into the C$2.10s, sources said.

A Western trader said he thinks May futures is due to go backup. But a marketer in the Midcontinent said there’s no way thatwill happen unless cash prices refuse to kowtow to the screeninfluence and stay firm from the outset of trading today. The AGAreport of 54 Bcf in injections was pretty big for this time of yearand only adds to the year-on-year surplus, the marketer said.

The futures plunge had a very adverse impact on May prices forAlberta gas. One trader reported doing intra-Alberta deals for Mayin the low C$2.00s Wednesday, compared to around C$2.27 on Tuesday.May-October term deals for intra-Alberta are being done in the highC$1.90s, she said. A producer reported May fixed prices for SanJuan-Blanco at $2.12-14 and pegged basis there at minus 26.Michigan citygate basis is plus 11.5-12, according to a marketer,while another source was hearing Sonat at minus 3 and TranscoStation 65 at plus 1.5.

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