Some traders figured they might as well have taken off Tuesdayfor Martin Luther King Day; the cash market to which they returnedseemed about as quiet and low-key as it had been most of last week.Prices showed little variance from weekend numbers, with mostpoints registering as flat to less than a nickel up or down.

The conspicuous exception was dime or greater declines inNortheast citygates. Regional deliveries, which only a couple ofweeks ago were straddling the $3 level at Transco Zone 6 and TexasEastern M-3, have lost almost a full dollar since then and werenestled mostly in the high $1.90s and $2.00s Tuesday.

Sumas began the day strongly at $1.71-72, more than a nickelabove Friday levels, a marketer said, but his last deal of the daydropped precipitously to $1.62.

Despite the prevailing overall flatness, a Texas producer feltthat between “the bearish storage situation” and rising warmthlevels in major northern market areas, it’s almost inevitable thatcash numbers will be dropping further. A Rockies/Northwest tradersaid she has stopped paying attention to storage withdrawal reports”because weather is the determining factor from here on out.”

A Houston marketer considered it rather fortunate that hisfirm’s storage accounts were a bit on the low side. “We’re buying alittle each day for that [storage] and paying less for the gas thanwe would have last year,” he said.

A marketer reported doing intra-Alberta deals for February atC$2.28-30, about 2-3 cents above Tuesday’s levels for Januaryswing.

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