It was no surprise to anyone seeing prices fall by major amounts across the board Friday. Despite modest support from the previous day’s screen rise of 5.7 cents, the lack of weather-based demand and the usual weekend decline of industrial load were a considerable depressant on the cash market.

Losses were fairly evenly spread across market areas in ranging from a little more than 20 cents to nearly C75 cents.

Futures support for next-trading-day (Monday) cash prices reverted to negative after the December contract fell by 18.7 cents Friday (see related story).

With above-normal temperatures expected across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. this week (see Daily GPI, Nov. 4), any possibility of a substantive rebound in prices seems remote.

Tropical Storm Ida had regressed to a tropical depression as it passed over the eastern end of Honduras Friday. It emerged into the northwestern Caribbean Sea that afternoon, where it likely would strengthen over warm waters, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The depression was expected to continue moving north at nearly 8 mph before turning to the north-northwest Saturday, which would bring it near the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico late Sunday, NHC said. The likelihood of any threat to Gulf of Mexico production remained in doubt.

Spokesman Robert Newberry of El Paso Corp. said there was nothing new to report Friday on the Texas Panhandle rupture of the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline other than that the company was assisting area residents and providing counseling. The company was still trying to determine the affected throughput at the rupture site, he said.

SoCalGas extended a high-linepack OFO, and PG&E added one of its own for Saturday (see Transportation Notes), resulting in large losses across the entire California market. Rockies prices also posted some of the day’s biggest declines as CIG’s Strained Operating Condition took effect Friday.

New cold fronts would sweep into the Pacific Northwest Saturday and Monday, according to The Weather Channel, but no severe cold weather was expected to result. Temperatures would remain a bit chilly in the Midwest and Northeast into the early part of the weekend but were expected to moderate as the new week began.

The South was forecast to remain moderate with highs throughout the 70s as far west as Oklahoma and Texas.

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