The general market continued its downslide Wednesday, and traders saw very little chance of a near-term rebound, citing further screen softness, a storage injection report that significantly exceeded all prior expectations, and expectations that the out-of-season blasts of winter hitting much of the U.S. this week are about to go away.

Almost across the board, cash declines ranged approximately from 15 cents to 35 cents; most were in the vicinity of 20 cents. Although the California border (into SoCalGas) joined the overall dive with a drop of 17 cents, both Malin and the California border into PG&E ran contrary to the general market with gains of over 40 cents and 20 cents respectively. There was no utility OFO to help explain the out-of-step firmness, but a marketer said one party got caught way short at Malin. The subsequent buying spree pushed Malin numbers “up about a buck near the end” and that had something of a domino effect at other points into PG&E, he said.

AGA said 64 Bcf of working gas was injected last week, led by the Consuming Region East with 43 Bcf. That was rather significant because the East has the lowest percentage-full volume of 16%. The refill of base gas that got withdrawn during March continued as another 5 Bcf was returned. The Nymex reacted negatively, pushing May futures nearly 20 cents down on the day before a late recovery of about a dime.

A Midwest trader said prices stayed pretty stagnant in his region for most of the morning before getting stronger in late deals, also due to a supply squeeze like at Malin. “Actually it was easier to find gas last week when prices were higher, which doesn’t make much sense,” he added. The trader also attributed the modest late rally at least partially to additional industrial load emerging. A baseload MichCon citygate deal was worth about a nickel premium to his swing quotes in the mid $5.40s, he said.

The National Weather Service offered little comfort for cash bulls in its latest six- to 10-day forecast. Temperatures next week should be normal to above normal throughout the U.S. except for extreme northern sections of the Midwest and new England. About the only potential for boosting gas prices came in the prediction of above normal readings for the Southeast, which could generate some air conditioning load.

A producer reported Chicago basis for May at plus 13-14 cents, which, based on yesterday’s Nymex closing, would make next month’s prices about even with the $5.28 he averaged in April swing deals.

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