The Gulf Coast, Northeast and most Midwest citygates continued to register price increases going into the weekend. But perhaps in acknowledgement of weakness in weather fundamentals that had been in effect for several days, nearly all Midcontinent and western points were down Friday.

It was a weekend market with numbers flying every which way. Most of the Midcontinent/West declines were capped at about 15 cents or less, but a few points plunged by as much as about 45 cents. Meanwhile, there was occasional flatness in the rising market areas, where the gains generally ran from a couple of pennies to as much as 20 cents. And Western Canada numbers ran contrary to the West’s overall softness with upticks of a little less than a nickel and about a dime for intra-Alberta and Westcoast Station 2, respectively.

It helped make the direction of Monday’s market an especially tough call. Bearishly moderate weather in virtually all areas this week will clash with the supportive influence of Friday’s energy futures strength. The May natural gas contract achieved an increase of 9.6 cents, but that was relatively paltry in comparison with the fireworks in Nymex’s petroleum products trading pits. May crude’s peak of $57.70/bbl set a new intraday record for a prompt month, and the closing price of $57.27 also was a daily settlement record. Outer months closed at more than $58, with the August contract making a serious stab at reaching $60 at one point. Meanwhile, heating oil and unleaded gasoline futures were exploring never-seen-before heights.

It remains to be seen how strongly the storage injection buying that sources credited with creating much of the cash markets firmness in the second half of last week, will be sustained.

Wet weather was more of a weekend concern (or boon in the Pacific Northwest) than temperatures readings. For the most part mild springtime mercury levels were expected to prevail. The West could anticipate snow in some mountainous sections, The Weather Channel said, but Denver was a good example of the overall moderating trend; highs would top out near 70 degrees there Saturday, only two days after the city experienced a light snowfall.

“There’s a little bit of craziness” in this market, commented a Gulf Coast producer. Noting that natural gas futures were still “following the oil” higher, he said some may feel gas and oil shouldn’t be so closely linked, but that’s the way it is. Energy futures will use any bit of information around to fuel their fire on the way up, he said.

Gulf Coast pipes averaged gains mostly around a dime, but were as much as 20 cents higher in late trading, the producer went on. Actually there was a gradual move higher all through trading after numbers started with an initial gain of about a nickel, he said. Naturally the late push higher was screen-driven, he added.

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