NGI Archives | NGI All News Access
Lower Weekend Demand Softens West; East Flat
Eastern markets maintained the week’s general pattern of flatpricing Friday, even eking out small increases here and there. TheWest tended to be a little softer due to the usual weekend fall-offin demand, but the declines there were fairly minuscule at no morethan 1-4 cents down in nearly every case.
Sumas recorded the day’s largest drop, sinking into the mid$1.50s in late activity. A Sumas trader said was “a lot of supplyout there for the weekend.”
Many people thought cash would go higher based on the lateThursday afternoon and Friday morning futures run-ups, aMidcontinent marketer said. Apparently the positive influence fromthe screen was canceled by the negative influence of lower weekenddemand, she added.
One source was surprised that the screen strength (before Fridayafternoon’s fall) had so little supportive effect on Westernprices. The latest forecast his company had received for the Feb.11-15 period calls for above-normal temperatures nearly everywhereexcept California. Noting that another forecaster was predictingsignificantly colder weather in many areas around mid-February (seeDaily GPI, Jan. 5), a marketer said his staff was “watching thesepeople fight over which upcoming weather model is correct.”
Traders continued to rate the first week of February as one ofthe dullest gas markets they had ever seen. Barring “a hell of awinter storm,” one said, he doesn’t see much chance of the activityand volatility levels rising before next week’s Houston EnergyExpo, and that should help keep the market subdued after this week.
©Copyright 1999 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.
© 2024 Natural Gas Intelligence. All rights reserved.
ISSN © 1532-1231 | ISSN © 2577-9877 |