Some traders were groaning with dismay Wednesday at the prospectof the March market being one of nearly all sideways pricemovement, much like the February one preceding it. All it takes isa look at the multitude of zeroes and ones in the change column ofDaily GPI’s price table today to understand where they might havegotten such an idea.

A source reporting Northern Natural-Demarc at $1.63, among theMidcontinent’s highest prices, said it’s curious that not a lot ofpeople seem to be active on Northern right now even when it has oneof the coldest market areas around. Demarc is not as liquid as ithad been in February, she added.

The AGA storage report of 128 Bcf in withdrawals last week fitin with the expectations of 100-130 Bcf that one trader had beenhearing, so it likely has already been incorporated into mosttrading strategies and will have little impact on the cash market,he said.

A Rockies trader whose Opal deals were on either side of $1.50said a lot of people tried without success to get the point to riseWednesday. Such an effort should have been futile, he said, whenWilliams Field Services is threatening to shut in gas at its OpalPlant because of supplies backing up into the plant from NorthwestPipeline. Northwest is hampered by last week’s rupture nearStevenson, WA, and the fact that it is close to running out ofstorage injection space at the Clay Basin facility.

Meanwhile, Sumas quotes in the low $1.60s were nearly 15 centsabove Northwest-domestic pricing and about even with many points inthe Midcontinent and Texas Gulf Coast. Sumas demand is remainingstrong because the rupture is keeping gas that had been flowingsouth-to-north on bi-directional Northwest out of the chillyPacific Northwest region, a marketer said. He reported WestcoastStation 2 numbers from the low to high C$2.20s.

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