That softening that everybody was expecting in vain since thestart of last week finally showed up to start off this week. Mostdeclines were in the neighborhood of a dime but generally were lessthan that in the West, especially California, and much greater thanthat at Northeast citygates.

Everything was poised to come off, particularly with Marchfutures falling all day to an eventual decline of more than a dime,according to one marketer. Lack of current weather fundamentals andbearish forecasts also came into play, he said.

However, sources were in disagreement about whether prices willcontinue to slide today. A Northeast buyer who saw his Transco Zone6-NYC deals finally wind up below $2.90, was pretty sure the marketwill still be soft “because I don’t see any weather coming.”

But a Midcontinent marketer wasn’t so sure. Crude oil numbersclosed stronger, so traders may want to take a cue from that, orthey may want to wait on this afternoon’s storage report beforemaking any further commitments, he said. Based on weather, themarket wants to push prices down, he went on, but based on storageand the price strength of crude products it may not want to pushthings much lower.

Western prices generally followed the screen lower, but El Paso’sstorage situation and Northwest accepting gas again from Clay Basinstorage (see Transportation Notes) werevery minor depressants, sources said. A marketer thought SouthernCalifornia’s quite modest fall of only a couple of cents probably wasdue to people “trying to play imbalance games as bidweek approaches.”

Speaking of bidweek, western basis has strengthened since lastweek, a trader in the region said. General Rockies basis of minus34 last week is now in the minus mid 20s, he said, also pegging thePermian Basin at minus 12 (versus minus 18 previously) and San Juanat minus 18 (up from minus 30). A marketer quoted Sumas at minus24.

One source expects bidweek to be busier than usual in its firsttwo days today and Thursday. He expects a majority of business tobe completed by Friday afternoon, reasoning that “people won’t wantto wait and take gas home over the weekend to sell Monday.”

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