Thanks to impending colder weather in the major northern marketareas along with some extra boost from a rising screen, overallcash prices ranged from flat to about a nickel higher Thursday,with increases of 3-6 cents tending to occur most frequently.

The only point to fall by more than about a penny was the PG&Ecitygate, where quotes were depressed by the utility’s issuance of ahigh-inventory OFO (see TransportationNotes). Although SoCal Gas didn’t follow suit, a marketerobserved, “When PG&E issues an OFO, it causes a lot of gas to getflipped over to SoCal’s system, so I wouldn’t be surprised to seeSoCal issue an [OFO-like] Overnominations Day notice either [today] orSaturday.”

The impact of the PG&E OFO carried over into the Rockies andSouthwest basins, where several points were among Thursday’sessentially flat performers. They might have seen at least smallupticks if it hadn’t been for the OFO, one source said. Also,Transwestern’s return today to full 800 MMcf/d capacity on its SanJuan Lateral was allowing extra supply into the market.

Although the Northeast and Midwest have been warming up slightlyover the past couple of days, a front moving in from Canada isexpected to bring at least one last touch of winter starting today,according to one forecasting service.

A marketer who works mostly Texas points said he could find “noutility or storage markets to speak of.” However, demand fromFlorida allowed him to put together a couple of Florida GasTransmission Zone 1 deals in the low $2.80s.

A producer was encouraged by not only having chilly weatherreturn to the Midwest, but he also pointed to the latest six- to10-day forecast by the National Weather Service, which he saidindicates Chicago-area temperatures will be mostly in the 40stoward the middle of next week.

Multi-day deals beyond the weekend are expected to be fairlycommon today as many traders prepare for the GasMart/Power 2000trade fair in Denver. FYI: A Denver source said there will be”beautiful weather” in the area this weekend, so there’s no need topack the fur parka and mukluks.

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