Softness in the cash market extended to almost all points Friday as existing negative price influences were supplemented by the usual weekend demand decline in the industrial sector.

A few flat locations, primarily in California and Western Canada, and a gain of about 15 cents at Texas Eastern-East Texas, where ongoing maintenance has created significant volatility in recent weeks, were exceptions to dips ranging from 2-3 cents to a little more than a dime.

September futures were neutral on guidance for Monday’s cash trading after staying flat at $3.931 (see related story). The basis spread between the screen and Henry Hub continued, with the hub now at about a 3-cent premium.

The East Coast from the Carolinas through Maine continued to brace for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, which remained a threatening storm despite being downgraded to Category Two status (sustained winds of 96-110 mph). New York City announced a mass transit shutdown starting at noon Saturday, and many East Coast residents were fleeing inland.

As of 5 p.m. EDT Friday Irene was about 265 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, NC, and poised to batter the state’s Outer Banks chain of islands. How much demand destruction it would cause over the weekend was still a matter of conjecture. Tropical Depression 10 was “poorly organized,” the National Hurricane Center said, as it continued to plow northwestward into the open ocean from a position about 660 miles west of the southern Cape Verde Islands.

Transco was typical of other energy operators in the storm’s path in announcing that it continued “to make preparations at its facilities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions to minimize any possible disruptions from the storm.”

There was little change in the generally bearish near-term outlook for the gas market. Very hot weather remained confined to the south-central U.S. and desert Southwest; the South was middling hot but no more than usual for this time of year, and moderate to slightly cool conditions still reign in most other areas.

Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) ended an Overage Alert Day, and FGT Zone 3 prices fell about a nickel. Other than Tennessee’s market-area Imbalance Warning going into effect Saturday, there were no major pipeline constraints entering the weekend.

A Texas marketer said he was still able to make a few weekend sales to Northeast buyers despite the impending Irene-related demand drop. He reported Transco Zone 6-New York deals done at $4.18, down 3 cents from Thursday’s average.

He said September deliveries at the Chicago citygate continued to hover at $3.99-4.00, essentially unchanged from Thursday, largely because of little movement in prompt-month futures.

IntercontinentalExchange confirmed the marketer’s perception of generally flat bidweek pricing, saying the September average for the Southern California border on its platform was up less than a penny to nearly $4.065 Friday.

Gas-oriented drilling activity fell by two rigs to 898 during the week ending Aug. 26, according to the Baker Hughes Rotary Rig Count. One rig each was removed from the Gulf of Mexico and onshore plays, Baker Hughes said. Its latest tally was 2% higher than a month ago but down 8% from the year-earlier level.

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