Near-flat pricing prevailed Wednesday as generally moderate weather continued to dominate the outlook but some below-freezing lows remained in the northern forecasts. Slightly softer numbers were again in the majority, but losses were much smaller than a day earlier and nearly balanced by flat to higher quotes.

Most points were down from 2-3 cents to a little more than a nickel. The rest were flat to about C10 cents higher.

The cash market also was depressed by Tuesday’s 13.4-cent futures slide, and it will continue to have negative guidance Thursday after the prompt-month contract fell another 6.1 cents Wednesday (see related story).

Moderate highs in the 60s and 70s will continue in the South, and although many locations in the Midwest and Northeast will still fall below freezing Thursday, daytime highs will be mostly in the 40s and 50s. Except for the Rockies and Canada, the West will be cool for the most part.

Malin and the PG&E citygate were flat to about a nickel lower after PG&E ended a low-inventory OFO (see Transportation Notes). PG&E’s lifting of the OFO left virtually no cold weather-related pipeline restrictions in effect.

Southern Natural Gas illustrated the heavy pulls on storage during the cold snap of the last three weeks. It said as of last Thursday its working gas levels stood at 40.2 Bcf, or 67% of its total 60.0 Bcf of capacity. That compares with 48.5 Bcf (81%) on Jan. 15, 2009 and 46.6 Bcf (78%) on Jan. 17, 2008.

A marketer in the Upper Midwest said local temperatures were still in the mid 20s Wednesday but might get above 30 later in the week. Her company is still buying some spot gas for customers, “but not much,” she said.

Stephen Smith of Stephen Smith Energy Associates is projecting a 244 Bcf storage draw for the week ending Jan. 15, up from his previous estimate of 225 Bcf.

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